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“TRIBUTE TO CHARLES ANSBACHER” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1717-E1718 on Sept. 23, 2010.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO CHARLES ANSBACHER
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HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON
of texas
in the house of representatives
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an admirable leader and beloved friend's husband, Charles Ansbacher. His life exemplifies an attainable American dream. Mr. Ansbacher was a firm believer in the power of music to lift individual spirits. For this, I commend his legacy.
Mr. Ansbacher was born in Providence and grew up in Vermont. His parents, noted psychologists Drs. Heinz Ludwig and Rowena Ripin Ansbacher, encouraged his study by sending him to Greenwood Music Camp and Tanglewood. He later majored in physics at Brown University but switched to music after creating a successful chamber orchestra with his classmates. He studied music at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio and at the Mozarteum in Austria.
His faith in music's ability to forge and repair a community led him to guest conduct far outside the typical circuit. He worked with orchestras in Beirut, Jerusalem, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan and held positions with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Bishkek Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Kyrgyzstan, and the Sarajevo Philharmonic. He was the first American to conduct the Vietnam National Symphony.
When he founded his orchestra in 2000, Mr. Ansbacher placed the word
``landmarks'' in its title to signal his belief in the connection between his music and the locations where it was created. During that period he also developed his public policy interests, serving as a White House Fellow and co-chairing a U.S. Department of Transportation task force that advocated for the use of federal funds to build a presence for the arts within the mass transit system. As he was involved with his work, he met my dear friend, Swanee Hunt, whom he later married and accompanied to Vienna when she was appointed U.S. ambassador to Austria. There he worked as a guest conductor, and began his relationship with the Sarajevo Philharmonic.
Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Ansbacher's wife of 25 years, said:
``Concerts, audience members, and passengers can be counted, but the impact of his ideas is incalculable. He imagined opportunities where others saw barriers. How many of us have dreamed bolder dreams, reached unimaginably farther, because of his stubborn encouragement and prodding? Our work is an extension of his work--no, of his life.''
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Thirtieth District of Texas and North Texas community, I am honored to commend the life of an astounding man, Charles Ansbacher.
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