Orchestra of Exiles

When Hitler came to power, he was quick to apply his anti-Semitic policies to music, getting Jewish musicians removed from German orchestras. The process was so abrupt that conductor Wilhelm Steinberg had his baton taken from him by Nazi thugs who entered the opera house where he was rehearsing.

We’ll find out how Wilhelm Steinberg left Germany and became William Steinberg, conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony. And we’ll hear the story of violinist Bronislaw Huberman, who formed an orchestra of exiles in Palestine. Guest Frank Tuerkheimer will go into the personalities and politics that crated a remarkable orchestra of exiles.