VIDEO PODCAST: Slava Ukraini! - recorded on 24 February 2022, the day the world woke up to the news that Vladimir Putin's Russian forces had invaded Ukraine. A fifty minute video which also features Caitríona O'Leary and Eric Fraad discussing their new film Island of Saints, and pays tribute to Joseph Horovitz, Malcolm Troup and Maria Nockin.
FROM ROME: Keep in touch with the Italian opera and classical music scene by reading Giuseppe Pennisi's regular reports.
Reuben Hofmekler was born in Lithuania on 6 December 1905 (or 1906), the son of well-known cellist. He grew up in Vilna, and the family fled to Kovno in 1920. He moved to the USA in 1938, where he was known as Robert Hofmekler (or Hoffy) and served with the US Army in Europe. Most of his family perished in the Holocaust, but his violinist brother Michael also survived. After the war, Robert taught cello in McLean, Virginia, played chamber music and organised the cellos in the DC Youth Orchestra. He died in McLean, Virginia, on 26 September 1994, aged nearly ninety.
Profile. Remembering Hoffy - Alice McVeigh writes about cello teacher Robert Hofmekler