Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1935-1974. (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
16 boxes.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Rudolf Pekarek (1900 - 1974) was a conductor born in Czechoslovakia in 1900. In 1934, he founded the Film, Opera, Koncert (FOK) Symphony Orchestra in Prague, which became the Prague Symphony Orchestra in 1952. Pekarek was its chief conductor until 1941. That year he and his wife Terry (nee Gutmann) were deported to the concentration camp in Lodz (Litzmannstadt). In 1944 they were taken to Auschwitz, and were among the few survivors liberated from the camp in January 1945. Pekarek joined the Czecho-Slovak army advancing west under the command of the Soviet army. He was the chief conductor of the Army Arts Ensemble from 1945 to 1947. After returning to Prague and being reunited with his wife Pekarek was again conductor of the FOK Symphony Orchestra from 1947 to 1948. The Pekareks migrated to Australia in December 1948. Pekarek was the resident conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra from 1949. In 1954 he became the chief conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He retired from this position in 1967 but continued working as an occasional guest conductor with orchestras around Australia.
Repository
Archival history
Collection previously titled as: Papers, 1935-1974
Collection alternatively titled as: Rudolf Pekarek Collection.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence, newspaper cuttings and concert programs relating to Pekarek’s work, other composers and musicians, including concert tours by overseas musicians, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Some folders also contain other ephemera and correspondence; photographs and scrapbooks
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- Czech
- English
- German
Script of material
Language and script notes
In English, Czech and German
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma MMS ID
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Pekarek, Rudolf, 1900-1974 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Migrated
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Migrated from LMS: April 2019, P.A.