Bayreuth Festival and foreign singers, long after they had been banned from all other venues across Germany (including heldentenor Max Lorenz, married to a well-known Jewish woman). Winifred's influence with Hitler was so strong that Hitler even wrote a letter (at her behest) to anti-fascist Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, begging him to lead the festival. Toscanini refused. From 1933 to 1942, the festival was conducted principally by Karl Elmendorff. It was under the Third Reich that the festival made its first break from tradition, abandoning the deteriorating 19th century sets created by Richard Wagner. Many protested at the changes, including prominent conductors
Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York The Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York was an annual event that began in 1963 as an open forum for the emerging experimental music scene in New York City. Established in 1963 by cellist and performance artist Charlotte Moorman, the festival ran for 15 years in various locations including Central Park and the Staten Island Ferry until 1980 (except for the years 1970, 1976 and 1979). Organized by the cellist and performance artist Charlotte Moorman, the Annual Avant Garde Festivals of New York began in 1963 as open forums for the experimental