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Sonatas. This is a Broadway-style new
musical under development in New York
City, and we are excited to give everyone
a special behind-the-scenes preview. A
concert version of this musical had its
world premiere in Beverly Hills back
in March, and we are now bringing the
instrumental music that inspired the
musical to Shaarey Zedek.
JN: Tell us about how you learned
about the Jewish refugee experience in
Shanghai and how it inspired you to
create this work.
Gao: I’m originally from Beijing,
China, and now live in the United States
permanently. When I went to Shanghai
in 2018, I visited the Shanghai Jewish
Refugees Museum and learned about the
20,000 Jews who escaped Nazi Germany
in the late 1930s.
Among the Jews who escaped, there
were a few hundred musicians, and
some of them were classical musicians
who taught local Chinese kids and
brought European classical music to
China during that time and influenced
some of the first generation of Chinese
classical music pioneers. I am one of
the third generation of Chinese classical
musicians.
These Jewish refugee musicians created
a ripple effect, unifying the cultures
and demonstrating the unifying power
of classical music. I thought that was a
beautiful story, so we started creating
this hybrid musical that features musical
genres from classical music to Chinese
music, Jewish music to crossover, jazz
and Broadway music — something for
everyone.
My dream is for this to be staged
on Broadway, to share stories of the
Jewish ghetto in Shanghai, and how the
Chinese and the Jews came together
to build a common culture as a result
of their shared adversity. Despite the
horrible conditions in the Jewish ghetto
of Shanghai, music saved their lives in a
way.
JN: How did you draw upon your
musical and cultural background in
creating Shanghai Sonatas?
Gao: I’m a classically trained violinist.
I’m also a proud alumnus of the
University of Michigan School of Music,
Theater & Dance that I attended in the
early 1990s. Prior to that, I attended the
Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing
to study classical music. I have always
enjoyed promoting cultural exchange
between the East and West, bringing
Chinese traditional music to Western
audiences.
Shanghai Sonatas has enabled me
to bring forth different cultures and
musical genres. Some of the songs
from the Shanghai Sonatas musical
are deeply rooted in my classical
training, influenced by composers
like Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Brahms and
Dvorak, while others showcase the
Chinese music that the Jewish musicians
and refugees heard when they arrived
in Shanghai. Some of the Jewish refugee
musicians later even composed music to
crossover into the Chinese genre.
In the musical, I was also able to
showcase my love for American music,
jazz and musical theater.
JN: Tell us about your Michigan roots
and the guest artists who will be joining
you Oct. 19.
Gao: Michigan was my home for
almost 10 years. Other than where I
live now, the University of Michigan
was the place where I lived the longest
since I immigrated to the United
States. Michigan is also where I met my
American parents, Rich and Susan Rogel,
who are both inspiring philanthropists.
I’m very honored to have
four artists from the U-M
School of Music, Theater &
Dance perform with us on
Oct. 19. Faculty violinist
Aaron Berofsky, who is also
the concertmaster of the Ann
Arbor Symphony, will be
joining us as well as his wife,
faculty violinist and violist
Kathryn Votapek. We are
also featuring two student
performers and upcoming
stars from U-M: Yun Han, a
cellist originally from Taiwan
A LITTLE
HISTORY….
Shanghai was known as the
“Paris of the East” — many for-
eigners flocked to Shanghai to
live and to vacation. Shanghai
was controlled by foreign pow-
ers rather than the Chinese
government — France, Britain,
and the U.S. each demanded
their own autonomous dis-
tricts. Even when Japan invad-
ed China in 1931 and seized
control of Shanghai in 1937,
this port city was still consid-
ered open to anyone who
could afford to get there.
The Jewish refugees who
emigrated to Shanghai in the
late 1930s could enter with
only a boat ticket. Fang-Shan
Ho, dubbed the “Chinese
Schindler,” risked his career to
issue visas to many Austrian
Jews while he served as
Chinese Consul in Vienna. The
refugees were initially wel-
comed by other Jews (many
of whom were Russian) who
had been coming to Shanghai
since the mid-1800s.
Approximately 20,000
European Jews, primarily
German and Austrian, trav-
eled to Shanghai between
1938 and 1941. As Japan
exerted more control on the
city after the invasion of Pearl
Harbor, the Jewish refugees
were forced into a 1-square-
mile working-class district,
Hongkou, where multiple fam-
ilies shared a single apartment
and indoor plumbing was a
rare privilege.
The refugees tried to re-
create the community they
had in Europe and practiced
their professions, including
musicians who introduced the
Chinese to classical music.
After the war, many Shanghai
Jews moved to Israel, North
America, Australia or back to
Europe.
Kathryn
Votapek
Aaron
Berofsky