Oral history interviews

In this part of the online resource ‘Singing a Song in a Foreign Land’ you can explore many hours of professionally filmed oral history interviews about the lives and work of migrant musicians from Nazi-Europe who emigrated to Britain in the 1930s. Interviewees include first generation émigré musicians and their children as well as colleagues such as the mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker who worked alongside them and were taught by them.

The stories of these musicians are quickly moving from memory to history. Following an international symposium devoted to their legacies at the Royal College of Music in 2014 we embarked on capturing these interviews, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Rothschild Foundation. Further interviews were added during the AHRC-funded project ‘Exile Estates and Music Restitution’ in 2016. The oral history research now continues as part of the AHRC project ‘Music, Migration and Mobility’ (2019-2022).

Disclaimer: All images used on this site in connection with the 'Singing a Song in a Foreign Land' project are used in good faith. We have made every effort to ascertain copyright permissions for historical images and this information has been included where known. Please contact Norbert Meyn: norbert.meyn@rcm.ac.uk if you believe an image has been used incorrectly.