{"id":115158,"date":"2025-06-13T12:42:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T16:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=115158"},"modified":"2025-06-13T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T18:00:01","slug":"preview-jcc-chamber-music-series-presents-adler-project-two-worlds-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/06\/13\/preview-jcc-chamber-music-series-presents-adler-project-two-worlds-music\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | The JCC Chamber Music Series Presents The Adler Project: Two Worlds In Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Members of the Shalom-Mei Ensemble, Daniel Temnik, violin & artistic director; Austin Chao, cello & Samuel Choi, viola (Photos courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The JCC Chamber Music Series will present a unique concert on June 26. The Adler Project: Two Worlds In Music combines film and storytelling with chamber music to reveal a fascinating chapter of history when Jewish musicians fled Europe to find refuge in China.<\/p>\n

During the 1930s and 1940s, many Jewish people attempted in various ways to flee persecution and imprisonment in Europe. It\u2019s a sad legacy of that time that many countries, including Canada, would refuse them entry.<\/p>\n

However, during the course of the pre-war and wartime period, about 20,000 Jewish refugees did find a second home in China.<\/p>\n

Among them were a group of orchestral musicians, including Viennese violinist Ferdinand Adler.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s his story that essentially shapes the narrative for the event.<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Adler in China<\/h2>\n

Many Chinese children had been left orphans after the Sino-Japanese war, which resulted in Japan\u2019s takeover of portions of the country. After arriving in Shanghai, Adler and his fellow Jewish musicians began to teach the orphans how to play violin, cello, and other instruments.<\/p>\n

Adler also continued to perform, and became concertmaster for the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra.<\/p>\n

When the Sino-Japanese war ended in 1945, civil war erupted across China. Since WWII had also ended, the Adler family decided to move back to Austria.<\/p>\n

But, the eight years or so that Adler and his colleagues spent in China left a permanent mark. The orphans they taught would become the core group who helped to establish Western classical music\u2019s strong influence in China today.<\/p>\n

\"Violinist
Violinist Ferdinand Adler with his students in China (Photo courtesy of JCC Chamber Music Series)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Adler Project<\/h2>\n

\u201cI always knew that there was an exodus of Jews that fled to Shanghai,\u201d says violinist and JCC Chamber Music Series Artistic Director Daniel Temnik. \u201cA lot of countries closed their borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passages to China, however, remained open, and he estimates that between 1930 and 1941, about 18,000 refugees fled to Shanghai. \u201cThey\u2019d usually travel through Italy.\u201d He recalls travelling to Genoa several years ago to find plaques and memorials to the Jews who\u2019d made their way through the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of got me going,\u201d he says. \u201cI started doing a little bit of research into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A business associate was able to point him in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe brought up a name who was affiliated with them.\u201d Fang Sheng was the son of one of Adler\u2019s original students, Ming Liang Sheng, and Temnik\u2019s contact was able to reach out to him. \u201cHe\u2019s actually the son of a musician who was taught by Fernand Adler.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ming Liang Sheng\u2019s story is in many ways just as dramatic as Adler\u2019s. After his parents were killed in what is now known as the Rape of Nanjing, he escaped the Japanese forces, and made his way to Shanghai. He was one of the orphans Adler connected with.<\/p>\n

Fang, his son, made his way to Canada eventually, and began searching for information about Adler based on what little he could remember from his own childhood. His search, and the connections he made, became the subject of a documentary film directed by Paul Rosdy titled Visit from China \u2014 an official selection of the 2024 Shanghai International Film Festival. The film follows Fang as he meets Christina, Adler\u2019s daughter, in Austria where Christina lives.<\/p>\n

The event will present the Canadian premiere of the film.<\/p>\n

Adler\u2019s Legacy<\/h3>\n

\u201cAdler was a pivotal player,\u201d Temnik says of his influence in China.<\/p>\n

The music on the program will include key pieces that Adler performed both with his young students and with his professional colleagues. That includes:<\/p>\n