The moving and entertaining story of WW2 Refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to Music and Britain.
With Norbert Meyn, tenor and Christopher Gould, piano
This cabaret song recital tells the story of musicians who fled the Nazis in the 1930s and found a new home in Britain. Told through their songs, the story combines romantic nostalgia, dark and hilarious humour, fighting in the British Army, food recipes and post war optimism as expressed in the 1951 Festival of Britain, to which many émigré artists contributed. From ‘Wiener Schnitzel’ and ‘Come back to Soho’ to ‘Adolf, we come!’ and ‘In Exile’, enter a time when supremely talented musicians had to fight for their survival and managed to keep their spirits up through song. The programme includes songs by Robert Kahn, Karl Rankl, Hans Gál, Mátyás Seiber and Eric Sanders.
Wednesday 9 September, 7pm
St John's Church, Waterloo
More information & booking: HERE.
This concert comes at the end of a day symposium, "A Tonic to the Nation: Refugees and Immigrants at the Festival of Britain" initiated and organised by Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of Insiders/Outsiders, an ongoing celebration of the contribution made by refugees from Nazi Europe to British culture, in partnership with St John’s Waterloo. You can find out more and register for the symposium (including the option of a ticket inclusive of the concert) here and the accompanying exhibition 'Music, Migration and Mobility' here.
Norbert Meyn is a versatile and creative singer based in London. In recent years he has made a name for himself through innovative concert programmes and recording projects with a sense of story-telling and discovery. Trained in Germany, Latvia and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Norbert has appeared in concerts at the Barbican Hall, the South Bank Centre, St. John’s Smith Square and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Halle International Handel Festival, the Utrecht Festival, with the Salzburg Bach Choir and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, with conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Howard Arman, Simon Halsey, Phillip Pickett and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. His operatic roles include: Don Ottavio (Mozart, Don Giovanni), Almaviva (Rossini, Il Barbiere di Sevilla), Podesta (Mozart, La Finta Giadiniera), Don Giovanni (Gazzaniga, title role), Damon (Handel, Acis and Galathea) and Magnus (Maxwell-Davies, The Martyrdom of St. Magnus).
With London Voices he recorded many film soundtracks for blockbuster productions including Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. CD recordings include Bach cantatas for Soli Deo Gloria, Engel Lund’s Book of Folk Songs for Nimbus Records, Schubert Lieder for SFZ Music, Spiritual Songs by C.P.E. Bach for Toccata Classics and Lieder by Robert Kahn with Christopher Gould for Rubicon. Norbert teaches German Lieder at the Royal College of Music in London, where he is also a Research Fellow. He is a sought-after vocal coach and specialist for German diction in singing all over the UK and Europe. In 2025 he toured his Émigré Cabaret programme to Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney.
Christopher Gould read music at Clare College, Cambridge before taking up a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music to study accompaniment with John Streets and Malcolm Martineau. On graduation he won all the major competitions for piano accompaniment: an award from The Geoffrey Parsons Trust in 1996, the Gerald Moore Award (1998), and the first prize for pianists in the Wigmore International Song Competition (2001). Christopher divides his time between a busy recital career and freelance vocal coaching, and has acted as staff pianist and coach for various international schools. In London he has performed with such artists as Sarah Walker, Ann Murray, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Roderick Williams and Geraldine McGreevy at the Wigmore Hall, St Johns Smith Square, the Purcell Room and on BBC Radio 3.
Christopher has released several discs as both sound engineer and pianist. His broad discography includes song recordings with Daniel Norman, Roderick Williams, William Towers and Catherine Wyn-Rogers. Recently released are Sonnets, a disc of songs by Britten, Liszt and Dankworth with Daniel Norman, Glorious Quest, an album with Rodney Earl Clark featuring hits from the Golden Age of Broadway musicals, and A New Dawn with Tarsha Cole and Alla Kravkuch, featuring songs in German, French and Russian Russian to bring new hope for 2021. Leaves from the Tree of Life, an album of works by the neglected composer Robert Kahn, received a 5-star review by BBC Music Magazine and includes a premier recording of Lieder with tenor Norbert Meyn as part of Ensemble Émigré. Christopher’s latest project with Angela Henckel is a disc of rarely heard songs by Noël Coward and Ivor Novello and is available to purchase here and on streaming platforms.
