Werner Felix BAER MBE

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Career. Werner Baer (1914-1992) (composer, arranger and conductor) was born in Berlin of Jewish middle class parents and gravitated to music. He was playing the piano at three years of age, composing at six, playing concertos at ten, and commenced organ lessons at thirteen. He studied piano at the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin with Artur Schnable, composition with Professor Bumoke and conducting with Professor Gross. Later he studied organ with Professor Straube, Cantor of the historic St Thomas' Church Leipzig, where Johann Sebastian Bach had played in earlier years. In 1935 at the age of 21, he was appointed the youngest ever choirmaster of one of the great Liberal Synagogues in Berlin, and shortly afterwards Junior Music coach and repetiteur with the Berlin Municipal Opera. At this time he made recital tours of Germany and several European countries, as accompanist and associate artist, with Richard Tauber, Joseph Schmidt and Alexander Kipnis. However, the Nazis caught up with him and he was interned in Sachsenhausen for a short period, managing to secure his release with the help of friends and escaping to Singapore. His musical talents were immediatley recognised, and he was appointed Municipal Organist and lectured in piano, harmony, countepoint and instrumental studies at Raffles College. At the beginning of the war in 1939 he was interned again, and in 1940 sent to Australia aboard the Queen Mary with 300 other internees. On arrival, he was interned and sent to a camp in Tatura, Victoria. In 1942 he was allowed to join the Eighth Australian Employment Company (army). After the war he became involved in Australia's musical life, becoming director of the Australian Amateur Hour for eighteen months, and then joined the Sydney Savage Club in 1947, an organisation dedicated to the encouragement and support of young performers in all branches of the Arts. In 1951, he joined the ABC as supervisor of Music, New South Wales, retiring in 1979.

2. Immigrated, 25 Sep 1940, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. At the beginning of the war in 1939 he was interned again, and in 1940 sent to Australia aboard the Queen Mary with 300 other internees. On arrival, he was interned and sent to a camp in Tatura, Victoria

Werner married Ilse PRESCH on 31 May 1938 in Berlin, Germany. The marriage ended in divorce on 18 May 1950. (Ilse PRESCH was born in Germany.)