Composer/conductor Fritz Berens, born in Vienna, Austria in 1907, fled the Nazis in 1939. After emigrating to the US, he conducted the San Francisco Ballet and Opera and the Sacramento Symphony, and was an integral part of the first complete performance of Tschaikowsky’s Nutcracker Suite in the US. He went on to teach and conduct in American orchestras and universities for many years and continues to teach and compose in Fort Worth, Texas.