Bayreuth after she took over the festival. Hitler frequently attended Wagner performances in the Bayreuth Festival Hall. Bayreuth was to have received a so-called "Gauforum", a combined government building and marching square built to symbolise the centre of power in the town. Bayreuth's first Gauleiter was Hans Schemm, who was also the head ("Reichswalter") of the National Socialist Teachers League, NSLB, which was located in Bayreuth. In 1937 the town was connected to the new "Reichsautobahn". Under Nazi dictatorship the synagogue of the Jewish Community in "Münzgasse" was desecrated and looted on Kristallnacht but, due to its proximity to the Opera
Presteigne Festival ‘Open Borders’ Festival, which commissioned twelve new works, one from each of the then European Community countries; 1993 Appointment of George Vass as Artistic Director. Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts Limited registered as a charity; 1994 Establishment of annual composer-in-residence scheme; 1999 The Festival was short listed for one of the annual Royal Philharmonic Society awards(nominated again in 2003); 2006 Pēteris Vasks first non-British composer-in-residence; Baltic music feature; 2007 25th anniversary festival which included seventeen world premieres. Australian musician Peter Sculthorpe was composer-in-residence; 2008 New executive structure introduced, which enabled the Festival to become more flexible and professional