Paul Kling

Paul Kling (28 March 1929 – 2 January 2005) was a Czech-born Canadian violinist.

Kling was born in Opava on 28 March 1929.^[1] He was sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp at the age of 13, where he was chosen to perform in Viktor Ullmann's opera The Emperor of Atlantis, or The Disobedience of Death. The opera was rehearsed in 1944 at Theresienstadt, but not performed there before the camp was closed.

On 28 September 1944, Kling was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp, but survived. Among his projects in later life was educating others about music during the Holocaust and sharing information about his experiences in Theresienstadt.^[2]

After the war he became concertmaster of the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Louisville Orchestra.^[3][4] He taught at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada for 20 years, and was later a Professor Emeritus and Director of the Music School (1980–87). He later taught violin at the University of British Columbia.^[2]

In 1995, The Emperor of Atlantis was performed for the first time at Theresienstadt in a production of ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre and in 1996 for the first time the original score was presented at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa (Canada) with the survivors from Theresienstadt, Kling and Herbert Thomas Mandl as a part of the project "The triumph of the human spirit!".^[5]

Kling died in Victoria, BC on 2 January 2005, aged 75.^[2]

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