Innovators in Exile – 100 Years International Society for New Music
Image Credits: The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive
April 24 | 6.30 pm
Please RSVP here.
Join us and Elysium – between two continents for a concert evening that features songs by Rudolf Reti, Paul Pisk, Karl Weigl, Hugo Kauder, Wilhelm Grosz, Egon Lustgarten, Paul Hindemith, and Egon Wellesz. These composers were all forced to flee after the Nazis seized power. After decades of neglect they are given a voice again.
About the event
Be part, as we honor exiled composers and bring their works back onto the stage: The evening will feature songs by Rudolf Reti, Paul Pisk, Karl Weigl, Hugo Kauder, Wilhelm Grosz, Egon Lustgarten, Paul Hindemith, and Egon Wellesz. With the exception of Egon Wellesz, who emigrated to England, the others escaped to the United States.
Michael Lahr, Program Director of Elysium, will open the evening with some remarks. And then you have the pleasure to listen to the following musicians: Jeannie Im and Alexis Rodda (soprano), Michael Protacio (tenor), Bruce Rameker (baritone) and Dan Franklin Smith (piano).
About the participants and musicians
Jeannie Im is a soprano and has been a member of Elysium since 2000. Besides performing for Elysium she conceived and directed the Operetta Revue Mein Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein in 2014, and in 2015 the program Ich wandle unter Blumen: Songs of Art Nouveau Vienna. In 2011 and 2012 she was the assistant director for the International Summer Academy in Bernried. In addition, Jeannie has performed in many festivals and venues throughout Europe and the US, including the Altenburger Musikfestival, Caramoor Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, Underworld Productions, and the Caroga Lake Music Festival. A Cum Laude graduate from U.C. Berkeley with an award for Academic and Theatrical Excellence, Jeannie Im obtained an M.A. in Musicology and a Certificate in Early Music Performance from NYU.
Michael Lahr studied philosophy and adult education at the Munich School of Philosophy and at the Jesuit University Centre Sèvres in Paris. He is the author of the books Erwin Piscator’s Legacy Lives On: Conversations on Theater, Music, and Politics and The Erwin Piscator Award, and co-author of the essay volume Images of Man. A specialist on Piscator, the founder of political and epic theater, he curated the exhibitionErwin Piscator: Political Theater in Exile, which has to date been shown in Bernried, New York, Catania, Salzburg, Munich, and Vienna. As program director of Elysium, he has unearthed numerous works by artists who, persecuted by the Nazis, were forced to leave their homes or were murdered. He lectures regularly on issues of general social and political importance, so far at the American Academy Berlin, the Leo Baeck Institute New York, the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, the Deutsches Haus at New York University, the University of Catania / Sicily, the Mozarteum University Salzburg, the Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas, the University in Vilnius, and others. He is a Fellow Researcher at the Exilarte Center of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Michael Protacio is a lyric tenor known for his warm, dynamic voice and captivating stage presence. He has appeared frequently as a lead operatic tenor in Pittsburgh, as a soloist in New York City, and in professional opera ensembles from Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House to New York’s Carnegie Hall. Michael is also committed to the promotion of new music, having performed in the premieres of several new musicals and operas, including a live operatic film soundtrack and the world’s first VR horror opera film. Most recently, Michael appeared in three consecutive lead roles at Carnegie Mellon University School of Music. Michael completed his MM in Vocal Performance at CMU School of Music in 2017, where he studied under Maria Spacagna. Michael earned his BA from Yale 2014.
Bruce Rameker performs as both a baritone and a countertenor and has appeared as a soloist on the stages of Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Town Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Spoleto Festival in a diverse repertoire that spans from ancient music with the Waverly Consort to tangos of Piazzola. He has sung with Chicago Opera Theater, Skylight Opera Theatre, New York City Opera, and Anchorage Opera. Recordings include Just Another Hour with the Trillium Ensemble featuring the music of Richard Pearson Thomas and One Body which was written for him by John Kennedy to feature both vocal ranges. Born in Wisconsin, he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has been a member of the Elysium ensemble since 2002.
Alexis Rodda is a classically-trained soprano described by New York Classical Review as having “a lovely voice, full of color and body in every register.” She attended Princeton University (BA), Mannes College (MM), and currently attends CUNY Graduate Center as a Five-Year Fellowship recipient and doctoral candidate. From 2019 to 2020 she was a Fulbright Scholar to travel to Vienna and conduct research in the Exilarte Centre. In 2018, she won a grant, the Elebash Award, to travel to Munich and explore the works of composer Egon Lustgarten at the Lahr von Leitis Archive. Previous operatic roles include Miss Jessel (Turn of the Screw). Agathe (Der Freischütz), Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Hanna (The Merry Widow), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Nedda (I Pagliacci), Nora/Alice (She, After), The Witch (Hansel und Gretel), Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Mimi (La Boheme), Genovieffa (Suor Angelica), and Penelope (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria). She was a 2013 Boston Metropolitan Opera National Council District Winner and Regional Finalist, a 2014 NYC Metropolitan Opera National Council Encouragement Award Winner, a 2014 and 2018 Elebash Grant Winner, a 2016 Serge & Olga Koussevitsky Young Artist Award Finalist, and a 2021 Opera Viva! Competition finalist.
Dan Franklin Smith is a pianist and has been working with Elysium since 1996 and served as its Music Director from 2005 until 2013. Under his musical direction Lustgarten’s opera “Dante in Exile” received its world premiere at the Elysium Festival Bernried 2005. With G. v. Leïtis he presented Ullmann’s musical legacy from Theresienstadt in many cities in Europe, the US and Canada. Mr. Smith made his European recital debut in 1997 in Sweden. In 1998 he made his European orchestral debut in Stockholm at Sofia Kyrkan and was later featured on Swedish TV. In 2004, he recorded two piano concerti by the Swiss late-romantic composer Hans Huber with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra. These premier recordings received outstanding reviews and are broadcast on dozens of classical stations throughout the US. As a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist he has performed at such venues as the National Gallery in Washington, DC, the Cleveland Museum’s Distinguished Artist Series, Alice Tully Hall in New York City, the Savannah Music Festival, as well as tours in Bermuda, Taiwan, and Puerto Rico.