Jean Kurt Forest

Jean Kurt Forest
Werner Renner, Jean Kurt Forest and Willi Hera, 7 June 1960
Born	Jean Kurt Forst (1909-04-02)2 April 1909 Darmstadt, German Empire
Died	3 March 1975(1975-03-03) (aged 65) East Berlin, East Germany
Education	Spangenberg Conservatory
Occupations	Violinist Violist Kapellmeister Composer
Organizations	Alhambra, Berlin Rundfunksinfonieorchester Frankfurt Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg Staatstheater Braunschweig Berliner Rundfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk Akademie der Künste der DDR
Awards	Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic National Prize of the German Democratic Republic Patriotic Order of Merit

Jean Kurt Forest (2 April 1909 – 3 March 1975) was a German violinist and violist, Kapellmeister and composer. He began his career as concertmaster in film orchestras conducted by Paul Dessau, then played principal viola in Frankfurt and Hamburg. Drafted to the Wehrmacht in 1942, he defected to the Red Army in 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until 1948. Back in East Berlin, he shaped musical life in the GDR in several positions, before he focused on composition from 1954, composing political songs and operas raising social awareness.