Vienna series needs a leader
The Friends of Vienna concerts were one of those odd things that make Buffalo unique. The series seemed unsinkable, like its founder, Edith Horowitz.
Horowitz, an opera singer with the Vienna Volksoper, was Jewish and barely managed to escape the Holocaust and get out of Austria alive. Waiting in London for her passage across the ocean, she narrowly dodged the bombings.
Even after she set out for America, the drama was not over. The ship behind hers in the convoy was torpedoed and sunk.
Horowitz and her husband, Dr. Martin Horowitz, were reunited in Buffalo. They missed their homeland, so they formed the Friends of Vienna. “A lot of the members were from Vienna or Austria,” says Paul Guenther, the group’s most recent president. “It was called the Friends of Vienna Club. They had pictures and talks and speakers, and gradually moved more to music.”
The concerts began at the International Institute, moving later to the Unity Church on Delaware Avenue. All in all, they went on for 32 years.
But now the series’ future seems unlikely. Horowitz died in 1996. Though the concerts still have a regular attendance of more than 100 people, Guenther and his wife, Margaret, can no longer keep up with the administrative duties. Unless a volunteer comes forward, the most recent concert, which was April 19 and featured the pianist Claudia Hoca, will prove to have been the last.
That would be a loss for the local music scene, says Stephen Manes, longtime head of UB’s music department. “The series provided an opportunity for musicians or groups to perform, and now that is closed off,” says Manes, who now lives in California. “It has served a function in Buffalo, and it is sad to see it die.”
Guenther, who is now in his 80s, said the responsibility got to be too much. “It’s quite a job, getting things lined up every month,” he said. “No one is paid. It’s all pro bono.”
He laughs that he himself was once an unlikely candidate. An engineer, Guenther worked for Mobil Oil’s Buffalo refinery. Though he always loved music, he never imagined stepping into Horowitz’s shoes.
“We always wondered if she left, or passed on,” he says. “She never let us in on any of her trade secrets, or her mailing list.” When Horowitz did pass on the job, Guenther never did inherit the mailing list. But he was surprised by how smoothly the series ran.
“We had so many people who offered to play, wanted to play,” he said.
The concerts were unique. Admission remained a bargain $6. Viennese pastries were served after the concerts.
Frequently, Guenther points out, the series gave a musician a chance to run through a program before presenting it at a larger venue.
Guests have included singers Adrienne Tworek-Gryta and Sebnem Mekinulov, pianists Susan Yondt and Rebecca Penneys and countless Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra musicians.
“It was funny, Edith never made the program in advance. It was always last-minute,” Guenther recalls. “The program was always longhand, in her German writing. I would make a copy of it . . . and she would correct it, and it would come back here, and it took so long.” He laughs. “Now it’s so much easier. People e-mail the program, and someone copies and pastes it.”
Want to carry on this Old World tradition? Guenther invites prospective organizers to give him a call at 649-1743, or 837-3304.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments