As a member of the Tesla Quartet, I have had the privilege to work with the Hugo Kauder Society a number of times over the last few years. Our first opportunity was a concert at the Black Mountain College Museum in Asheville, NC, in 2018 in which we performed Hugo Kauder's 4th String Quartet. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to discover this music and to help educate the audience about this highly talented but overlooked composer.
The Hugo Kauder Society is not just receptive to the needs of its community but is also proactive in helping artists. When the Tesla Quartet's concert calendar was all but wiped out during the early months of the Covid pandemic, the Hugo Kauder Society reached out to us and offered to contribute funding for us to produce video performances of Kauder's music that we could share virtually on our YouTube "Quarantunes" concert series. They were attentive to our needs and timeline, supportive of our artistic vision for the videos, and easy to communicate with.
It has been a pleasure to work with the Hugo Kauder Society, and we look forward to future collaborations.
-- Ross Snyder, violinist & founder, Tesla Quartet
It has been a privilege to be a member of the Hugo Kauder Society whose mission is the preservation and promulgation of the music of Hugo Kauder and the story of his artistic evolution as a refugee in post-World War II America. I was a composition student of Kauder’s in the 1960s and 1970s and am honored to be able to share his unique pedagogy and legacy in my capacity as Board President.
The Society benefits greatly from the professional and volunteer efforts of our staff and board. Karl Warner, our professional manager, is a Connecticut-based musician, composer, and devoted Community College music teacher whose focus is in the lesser-known 20th century avant-garde music movements. Prior to his arrival, Rona Richter, a New Haven based Intellectual Property expert, ran the music competition, from the call for entry to the jury process to the public performances. She oversaw the production of a major opera (a US premiere), shepherded the creation of our website, and helped translate many documents and source material. Our Treasurer has run one of Connecticut’s premiere arts spaces and has an unrivaled track record in nonprofit fundraising. I am proud to serve alongside them.
We invite you to visit hugokauder.org for audio recordings, short videos, sample scores and a full timeline to learn more.
--Norman Dee, Board President