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Virtual Book Launch: Musicians’ Exile in Shanghai, 1938–1949
October 20, 2021 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
In this virtual lecture, Sophie Fetthauer will present her recently published monograph Musiker und Musikerinnen im Shanghaier Exil 1938–1949.
More than 450 musicians were among the approximately 18,000 mostly Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria who fled Nazi persecution to Shanghai from 1938. For most of them, the Chinese port city was not a preferred destination. The situation there was marked by Japanese military occupation, temporary ghettoization, destructions of war, and shortages. Against this complex background, this volume is the first comprehensive examination of the conditions of the professional spheres of activity, the (sub) cultural developments, and the adaptation and demarcation of the musicians who fled to Shanghai. Topics covered by the study are the role of aid organizations in preparing the exile, the popular music scene, the trade union involvement, the classical music scene and institutionalization, the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, stage productions, Jewish cantors in synagogues and concerts, music educators and Chinese student circles, activities of composers, and the migration and rehabilitation after the end of the war.
About the speaker:
Sophie Fetthauer studied Musicology and Literature at the University of Hamburg, PhD in 2002; various research projects on music and musical life in the “Third Reich” and in exile with a focus on biographies, company and institutional history, exile in Shanghai as well as displaced person camps and remigration in the post-war period; co-editor of the “Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit”.
Event guidelines:
1. The Library will send you a Zoom link and joining instructions via email prior to the event. Please check your junk email folders.
2. Please try and join 5 minutes before the event start time and we will let you into the room (do try and bear with us if this takes a few minutes).
3. If you would like to ask a question during the event, please type your question into the chat function, and we will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible during the Q&A. Your webcam will not be seen during this event.
4. The event will be recorded for the Library’s YouTube channel and will be shared at a later date.
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