The initiative launches the new website MusicRestored.org and a recording series featuring works by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Schulhoff, and others silenced by the Nazis.
The Colburn School has announced a major expansion of its acclaimed Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices into Music Restored: The Ziering-Conlon Center for Exiled and Suppressed Composers, establishing a leading international hub for the performance, recording, and study of music banned or marginalized under the Nazi regime.
The $14.5 million initiative marks a new chapter in Colburn’s mission to preserve and champion the work of composers whose lives and careers were destroyed or disrupted by the Holocaust. Led by Artistic Director James Conlon—Music Director of LA Opera and a longtime advocate for rediscovering suppressed music—the new Center broadens its reach through live performances, educational programs, recordings, and the launch of a new digital platform, MusicRestored.org.
“What began as a personal mission has grown into a shared endeavor with the Colburn School,” said Conlon. “Music Restored: The Ziering-Conlon Center for Exiled and Suppressed Composers reflects the expanded scope and enduring urgency of this work. These composers are not merely historical footnotes; they are vital contributors to our cultural heritage.”
Founded in 2013 with the support of Los Angeles philanthropist Marilyn Ziering, the original Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices was inspired by LA Opera’s groundbreaking Recovered Voices project. Since its inception, the program has presented over 60 live performances, produced 26 recordings, and garnered more than 100,000 views on YouTube—reviving works long absent from the stage and classroom.
“The Colburn School is deeply committed to preserving and advancing the legacies of exiled and suppressed composers,” said Sel Kardan, President and CEO of the Colburn School. “Thanks to our partnership with James Conlon, this new center ensures that these important works will continue to be performed and remembered.”
Program Director Adam Millstein, a Colburn alumnus and violinist, has been instrumental in shaping the Center’s new vision. “Working with The Colburn School and James Conlon to share the music of exiled and suppressed composers is both a privilege and a responsibility,” said Millstein. “Their music remains as relevant and important today as when it was written.”
A cornerstone of the expansion is MusicRestored.org, which builds on the foundation of The OREL Foundation website—one of the world’s foremost resources on music suppressed by the Nazis. Founded by Conlon and NYU Professor Michael Beckerman, The OREL Foundation’s vast archives have now been fully integrated into Colburn’s new platform, ensuring that this vital scholarship and repertoire remain accessible to musicians, educators, and researchers worldwide.
The site will host digital archives, performance content, recorded lectures, and a new Music Restored Recording Series, making it a central destination for learning and engagement with this rediscovered body of work.
The inaugural recordings include:
- Ein Quartett-Satz on the name of Walter Arlen by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968), performed by Adam Millstein and Colburn Conservatory students. The lyrical quartet, part of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s series of 52 musical “greeting cards,” honors his friendship with composer Walter Arlen and incorporates motifs inspired by Schubert.
- Cadenzas for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 by Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942), featuring pianist Dominic Cheli with James Conlon conducting. Written in 1923, Schulhoff’s inventive cadenzas for the first and third movements are recorded and released for the first time in full.
Future recordings will continue to appear regularly on MusicRestored.org, expanding the catalog of available works by these once-suppressed composers.
The 2025–26 Music Restored season begins with a special chamber concert on November 6, 2025, in Thayer Hall, featuring violinist Adam Millstein and pianist Dominic Cheli performing works by Vítězslava Kaprálová, Smetana, Schulhoff, and Martinů.
The program includes:
KAPRÁLOVÁ – Elegy
SMETANA – From My Homeland, Op. 128
SCHULHOFF – Sonata for Solo Violin, WV 83
MARTINŮ – Violin Sonata No. 2, H. 208
On March 7, 2026, Conlon will lead the Music Restored Ensemble in an orchestral concert at Zipper Hall celebrating the lyricism and innovation of Czech composers. The evening will feature Dvořák’s Nocturne in B Major, Kaprálová’s Partita for Piano and Strings, and Martinů’s Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani.
Music Restored: The Ziering-Conlon Center for Exiled and Suppressed Composers serves as a leading international resource dedicated to research, performance, and preservation of works silenced by the Nazi regime. Through its concerts, recordings, and educational outreach, the Center ensures that these vital voices—once erased from history—resonate for generations to come.
Originally founded as the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices, the program’s 2025 rebranding underscores its expanded reach and integration of the OREL Foundation’s digital archives.
