The "Friends of Fondazione Istituto di Letteratura Musicale Concentrazionaria" established in US
- Fondazione ILMC
- Jul 19
- 3 min read
The research activity that Italian pianist Francesco Lotoro has been conducting for nearly four decades on music written in concentration Camps between 1933 and 1953 has just achieved a major new international milestone. The non-profit foundation 𝐹𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎 has been established in Arvada, Colorado (USA).
The creation of this new entity enables the Fondazione ILMC to receive vital financial support from US citizens in compliance with federal regulations. This funding is of crucial importance for a highly expensive research endeavor that requires continuous travel abroad and costly restoration, cataloging, and digitization of both acquired materials and those currently being recovered. These include rare books and musical instruments of immense historical value, such as the Auschwitz Violin, the Cesare Savino Violin, the Dachau Violin, the Vittorio Longarato banjo-mandolin and s.o. The newly founded organization, which enjoys federal income tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), will be entitled to receive contributions, bequests, and legacies from any donor, which are tax-deductible under Sections 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the aforementioned American legislation.
The initiative was promoted by Jonathan Morse, the tireless fundraising advisor for the ILMC Foundation chaired by Lotoro. It represents a significant milestone that builds upon the steady attention the American media has dedicated to the musician’s research for approximately two decades, as well as his project to establish a center of global relevance in Apulia. This center will grant universal access to one of the richest yet least-known pages of 20th-century music, featuring prominent materials from the archives of musicians such as Rudolf Karel, Aleksander Kulisiewicz, and Berto Boccosi, alongside precious fine arts collections tied to the Shoah and military deportation (the “Roberto Malini” and “Ferruccio Francesco Frisone” collections).
Prestigious newspapers such as 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑠𝑡, and 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙, alongside national television networks like 𝐶𝐵𝑆 (with its memorable, extensive feature on the renowned broadcast 60 Minutes) and 𝐶𝑁𝑁, to name but a few, have repeatedly covered this work over the years. They have highlighted an artistic heritage and research endeavor that are unique in the world for their scope and systematic nature. This media coverage has allowed the theme of concentration camp music to take root on American soil, capturing the interest of the general public as well as professionals.
This major development comes as a crowning achievement for Fondazione ILMC, and the frequent lectures and concerts held over time across the United States by Francesco Lotoro and other involved musicians. These events—such as Lotoro's lectures at the 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝐷𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑙𝑓𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑚 and 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, or the concerts at the 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 in New York, 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙 in Omaha, and the 𝐽.𝐹. 𝐾𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑𝑦 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑠 in Washington DC—aroused great interest and introduced American audiences to the historical and artistic value of concentration camp music.
“𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑝 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑠, 𝑏𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙,” declared Francesco Lotoro. “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠. 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐼𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑦, 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒, 𝐼𝑠𝑟𝑎𝑒𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐, 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑎.”
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𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚
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