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History
My father came to England as a refugee at the age of 12 in 1938. He later joined the Scottish regiment, changed his name to Bobby Fryer and later settled in Oxford. He worked in the Cowley car plant and dedicated his life to trade union activities. My mother, Margaret, was Welsh and taught in Oxford's Blackbird Leys estate. My father had a huge collection of classical music. Music was an ever-present aspect of life in the family home. This inheritance of music and of a European family have had a profound influence on my life.
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Erszi
 In
1975 I was meeting my European relatives, some for the first time. In Budapest
I'd been staying with my grandfather, he said I should go and meet his sister.
She was living in a tenement block, an old council house in Vienna.
I introduced myself to my great aunt, who was a survivor of Auschwitz. She
took me to a cemetary, where my family lies buried, and started laying eight
stones, a Jewish tradition, one for each family member who dies in the Holocaust.
She started wailing and that sound stayed in my mind. The memory of the
sound can be found on "Erszi's Lament" which can be found in different
versions on "Songlines' and 'Flute Dreams'.
Giselle  The
title piece of my CD 'Giselle' is a portrait of my grandmother who escaped
the Holocaust by fleeing from Vienna to Budapest. Not only that but she
saved money to help other members of the family to flee too. Although Giselle
survived, eight other family members died in various concentration camps.
My European roots are a source of inspiration and sadness.
frei@freizinger.demon.co.uk
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My
great, great, great, great grandfather was a composer called Pesach who
was also well-known for his deep singing voice. There is a monument to
him in Vienna. My grandfather was a cafe entertainer there and had a place
called Cafe Budapest.