A new musical in development
Based on the memoirs of Jewish refugee musicians who escaped Nazi Germany and found refuge in Shanghai in the 1930s and ’40s, this musical shares how music helped them to survive the war and how they taught classical music to the local Chinese.
The creators of Shanghai Sonatas honor the Shanghai Jewish refugee musicians from Germany and Austria, and the many others who traveled to China before them, and the Chinese who studied abroad, for bringing classical music to China.
Today, China has millions of students learning classical music. We hope the unifying power of music will continue to spread to many other countries.
Characters
TAN HUA, former star of the Peking Opera in Shanghai.
MING-KAI (KAI KAI), Tan Hua’s son.
RACHEL, a classical violinist.
LEO, Rachel’s husband, a classical violinist.
ERNST, a classical violinist.
SAMMY, a jazz/classical musician.
MIRI, a dancer.
MADAM WU, a nightclub owner.
LI LI, a taxi dancer.
KANO GHOYA, Japanese overseer of the Ghetto.
PEI-JIN, Tan Hua’s husband.
HERMANN, a peddler.
LOTTE, a peddler, Hermann’s wife.
LAO SUN, a peddler.
WONG MA, a peddler, Lao Sun’s wife.
NIGHTCLUB EMPLOYEES and PATRONS; JAPANESE SOLDIERS; various JEWISH REFUGEES and CHINESE RESIDENTS of Shanghai
CONTACT
Diane Fisher, Producer (NYC)
917-734-2748
Sean Gao, Artistic Director
xiangg@udel.edu
All rights reserved
Presented in partnership with
Shanghai Sonatas Foundation (USA)
Special Thanks
Shanghai Sonatas is dedicated to Richard
and Susan Rogel who have endlessly supported its composer Sean Gao
as his American parents since 1992.
Special thanks to:
Jian Chen, Director and Chief Curator of the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum
Sophie Fetthauer, University of Hamburg research scholar (on Shanghai Jewish refugee musicians)
Betty Grebenschikoff (1929-2023), Shanghai Jewish Refugee survivor and author of “Once my name was Sara”