Why did Bard College’s orchestra performed Mendelssohn at site of Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies?
At the hour of Germany’s surrender in 1945, they performed a program by Felix Mendelssohn — whose music was banned under the Nazis because of his Jewish heritage.
Leon Botstein, Bard College president and director of its orchestra, leads a concert in Nuremberg, Germany, May 8, 2025.(photo credit: Anton Doppelbauer)BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA