Exilarte Center Presents: The 2026 Anniversary Exhibition on Persecuted Composers and Their Legacies

This anniversary exhibition at the Exilarte Center presents a comprehensive overview of the estates of composers persecuted and marginalized during the National Socialist era. It explores their lives, works, historical context, and lasting significance for contemporary research and remembrance culture.

The anniversary exhibition at the Exilarte Center offers a first-time panorama of the estates preserved by the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. It delves into the lives, works, and legacies of composers who faced persecution and marginalization, situating their creative output within its historical context and emphasizing its importance for contemporary research and remembrance. The Exilarte Center actively preserves, researches, and makes accessible the estates of numerous musicians whose lives were profoundly affected by persecution, displacement, exile, or murder under the National Socialist regime. This collection spans composers, performers, conductors, musicologists, dancers, and theatre practitioners whose artistic careers were violently interrupted or forced into exile. Many of these individuals went on to significantly influence the musical landscapes of their new homes, while others, forgotten after 1945, are now being rediscovered through Exilarte's dedicated work. These biographies paint a vivid picture of European music history in exile, featuring Vienna-trained composers who redefined film music in Hollywood, conductors who established new orchestras abroad, and music educators, theorists, and performers who left indelible marks on cultural life in countries like Great Britain, the United States, Latin America, Israel, Australia, and Asia. Simultaneously, these narratives underscore the profound and irretrievable loss of artistic potential resulting from disenfranchisement, internment, severe hardship, or murder in concentration camps. The estates housed at the Exilarte Center thus serve as documents not only of individual artistic journeys but also provide a broader perspective on the global impact of displacement and persecution on twentieth-century music. They illustrate the transformation of European musical traditions in exile and the emergence of new cultural impulses born from experiences of loss and new beginnings, while also pointing to the extended period of silence after 1945 during which many of these works and names faded from collective memory. The exhibition builds upon this unique biographical archive, using selected life stories to convey the diversity, scope, and contemporary relevance of the exile legacy, connecting personal destinies with wider historical and musicological contexts. It stands as a vital contribution to remembrance culture, historical responsibility, and the sustained visibility of suppressed cultural history.

Admission to the exhibition is free. Opening hours are Wednesday to Friday from 15:00 to 19:00, and Saturday from 13:00 to 17:00. The exhibition is closed on public holidays.