Shanghai Symphony Orchestra pays homage to Hungarian-Jewish violinist

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra celebrated the life and contribution of Jewish violinist Ferdinand Adler (1903-1952) by inaugurating a new panel along Fuxing Road by the concert hall, and holding a live performance of Hebrew Melody by Liu Ming on May 6.

The panel featuring Adler can be found beside those of other musicians like Mario Paci and Arrigo Foa who have made important contributions to Shanghai through the early 1900s.

Adler was a Hungarian-Jewish violinist who was in 1939 exiled to Shanghai, where he eventually carved out a successful music career that saw him become the concertmaster of the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, the predecessor of today's Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, a soloist, chamber musician and professor at the State Conservatory of Music.

He returned to Austria in 1947 and worked as the concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera at the Volksoper, before dying during a rehearsal in 1952.

He was among 400 Jewish musicians that found refuge in Shanghai, according to Shanghai Jewish Refugees' Museum. These musicians of diverse backgrounds had enriched the city's music scene and helped make Shanghai an important music center in the world. They also nurtured a large number of outstanding music talents in China, thus laying a foundation for the development of China's music industry.

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic are jointly commissioning a new oratorio in memory of the Jewish musicians exiled to Shanghai during World War II. Titled Shanghai! Shanghai!, the new piece composed by Aaron Zigman will be staged at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra later this year.