From 11–18 March, discounted admission £8 applies while Pitzhanger Gallery and the Soane Gallery are closed for exhibition changeover. Pitzhanger Manor remains open.
The Soane Gallery reopens 19 March with Marthe Armitage: Pattern Maker.
Please note: The site is closed on Friday 14 March for our Wedding Preview (shop and café open 10am–5pm).
‘An impressive, important, deeply moving book’ – Sarah Waters
In 1943, German SS officers in charge of Auschwitz-Birkenau ordered that an orchestra should be formed among the female prisoners. Using archival research and exclusive first-hand accounts, award-winning historian Anne Sebba examines how women and girls were drafted into a band which was forced to give weekly concerts to Nazi officers and play marching music to other inmates. It was a harrowing existence that, nonetheless, saved nearly all their lives. From conductor Alma Rosé, niece of Gustav Mahler, to the orchestra’s last surviving member, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Sebba unravels the astonishing tale of the musicians, and looks at the tangled moral questions the orchestra raises. What role could music play in a death camp? What was the effect on those women who owed their survival to their participation in a Nazi propaganda project? And how did it feel to be forced to provide solace to the perpetrators of a genocide that claimed the lives of their family and friends?
Anne Sebba is the author of many critically acclaimed non-fiction books, mostly about iconic women who held power or influence in different ways, including the award-winning Les Parisiennes about women in wartime France. She has presented documentaries on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 about musicians. Anne is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, Fellow of the Society of Authors and trustee of the National Archives Trust.
The aim of Ealing Book Festival is to celebrate the joy of reading and to advance engagement and education around literature and reading. Through our events we hope to bring people and communities together; grow audiences for literature; inspire writers and readers of all ages; showcase well-known authors and promote local writers.
Friday 25 April
6.00 – 7.00 pm
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
Ealing Green, London W5 5EQ
£12.00
Please contact info@ealingbookfestival.com for more information.
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
Ealing Green, London W5 5EQ
Ticketing, Opening Hours and Tour Enquiries: foh@pitzhanger.org.uk
Retail Enquires: retail@pitzhanger.org.uk
Reception: 020 3985 8888
Venue Hire: 020 3994 0966
Office: 020 3994 0967
Wednesday - Sunday: 10:00 - 17:00
First Thursday of the month: 10:00 - 20:00
Monday - Tuesday: Closed
Bank Holidays: 10:00 - 17:00
Last admissions one hour before closing
Partial Closure: 18 February, 11am–1.30pm
Please note that the Eating Room in Pitzhanger Manor will be closed at 11am–1.30pm on 18 February for a private function. Artworks in the affected space will be temporarily off view, but General Admission continues as usual. All rooms will be open before and after this time during our regular opening hours.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Partial Closure: 11 March
Please note that Pitzhanger Gallery and the Soane’s Bedroom and Soane Gallery in the Manor will be closed on 11 March for exhibition changeover. Discounted general admission applies — the Manor and other displays remain open, so you can still enjoy your visit.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Partial Closure: 12 and 13 March
Please note that Pitzhanger Gallery and Soane Gallery in the Manor will be closed on 12 and 13 March for exhibition changeover. Discounted general admission applies — the Manor and other displays remain open, so you can still enjoy your visit.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Partial Closure: 14 March
Please note that Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery will be closed on 14 March for Wedding Preview. Shop and cafe in gallery foyer remain open 10am–5pm.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Partial Closure: 15–18 March
Please note that Pitzhanger Gallery and Soane Gallery in the Manor will be closed on 15–18 March for exhibition changeover. Discounted general admission applies — the Manor and other displays remain open, so you can still enjoy your visit.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Partial Closure: 19–28 March
Please note that Pitzhanger Gallery will be closed on 19–28 March for exhibition changeover. The Manor and Marthe Armitage: Pattern Maker remain open, so you can still enjoy your visit.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Important Visitor Information: 29 March
Please note that Pitzhanger Gallery will be closed at 10am–1pm on 29 March for exhibition changeover. General admission as usual; the Manor remains open.
The entire site will close at 1pm for a private function and there will be no public access from 1pm.
Please book morning tickets if you wish to visit on this date.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Partial Closure: 25 April, 12–5pm
Please note that the Eating Room in Pitzhanger Manor will be closed at 12–5pm on 25 April for a private function. Artworks in the affected space will be temporarily off view, but General Admission continues as usual. All rooms will be open before and after this time during our regular opening hours.
Questions? Email us at foh@pitzhanger.org.uk.
Get Tickets