Walter Kaufmann (composer)

Born in Karlsbad, Bohemia (at that time part of Austria-Hungary), he trained in Prague and Berlin before fleeing the Nazi persecution of Jews to work in Bombay until Indian Independence.

[6] Just before the war Kaufmann spent some time in America, unsuccessfully attempting to establish himself there, but ultimately returned to India.

[7] With the support of by Sir Ernest MacMillan, Kaufmann was invited to become the first professional conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 1948 to 1956.

He initially established himself as a composer from 1927 in Prague, Vienna and Berlin with works such as the Symphony No 1, Piano Concerto No 1, Suite for Strings and Five Orchestral Pieces.

Once in India he combined Western and Oriental traditions in pieces such as Madras Express, the Six Indian Miniatures and the Violin Concerto No 3, as well as in many chamber works, applying raga techniques in some of them.

He also contributed to soundtracks for Bombay's pre-Bollywood film industry with scores such as Jagran (1936), Toofani Tarzan (1937) and Ek Din Ka Sultan (1946).

[16] His wife Freda was the soloist for the premiere of his second Piano Concerto, and Kaufmann invited leading performers such as Glenn Gould and Szymon Goldberg to play with the Winnipeg Symphony.

[14] Ballet Orchestral Concertante Vocal Chamber Piano Films Books He also published a number of research papers and record reviews especially in ethnomusicology.