The ARC Ensemble’s “Music in Exile” series continues with an exploration of chamber works by Ernest Kanitz. Born into a wealthy Viennese family in 1894, he was encouraged in music by his mother and started composing at a young age. Though his parents persuaded him to study for a degree in Law, he also studied piano, music theory, and composition (with Franz Schreker, who also served as a mentor). His reputation grew steadily, his works promoted by conductors such as George Szell and Clemens Krauss. In 1922 he became a teacher at the New Vienna Conservatory, and in 1930 established the Vienna Women’s Chamber Choir, which quickly gained a reputation across Europe. Although he had converted to Christianity in 1914, his Jewish ancestry necessitated emigration in 1938, following Germany’s annexation of Austria. He eventually moved to California and established a successful teaching career at the University of Southern California. Retirement from USC in 1960 gave him much more time for composition, with successful premières given by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony, among many others. Following his death in 1978, his music, like that of so many émigré composers, has been forgotten.