George Whyte

His latest creation 'Golem 13' was the cultural highlight of the Czech Presidency of the European Union (June 2009). It was premiered at the National Theatre of Prague and commemorated the 400th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Loew, the Maharal, credited with the creation of the Golem of Prague to defend the Jews of the Ghetto. In Golem 13, a Kabbalistic Drama in 2 Acts, (set to music by Noam Sheriff), Whyte dares a balancing act between the past and the future. The first act takes place in the 16th century, the second act, in the future, 500 years later, when the Jewish people, threatened once again, create Golem 13 for their protection. In this visionary work, there appears on the operatic stage, for the first time, a superhuman being composed of Kabbalistic spirituality and advanced technology, to be of eventual significance to all of mankind.

A world authority on the Dreyfus Affair, his Dreyfus Trilogy, created for the Dreyfus Centenary in 1994 has been widely performed and televised. Making extensive use of archival material, he has evolved a powerful dramatic style defined by Götz Friedrich as a 'Protokol für das Musiktheater' wherein the drama is heightened by opposing texts, repeatedly sung and declaimed, which confront the listener with an escalation of the moral conflict. His literary work 'The Dreyfus Affair – A Chronological History' (publ. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) is recognized as the major reference book on the subject.

George Whyte was inter alia Chairman of the British National Export Council for the Arts (1967–1973); founder member of the international committee of the Artur Rubinstein Piano Competition (1976–1988) and Chairman of the Royal Opera House 'The Holocaust A Commemoration in Music' (1987/88). Since 1988 Whyte he has been the Chairman of cultural events at 'Remembering for the Future' (London). For over 20 years he has researched the Dreyfus Affair which has made him a world authority on the subject. Since 1998 he has been Chairman of the Dreyfus Society for Human Rights (London and Bonn).

George R. Whyte (born 11 July 1933 in Budapest; died 31 August 2012 in London) was an author, composer, dramatist and art collector. His early education was at Highgate Junior School. A British national of Hungarian Jewish extraction, the Holocaust and the loss of many members of his family in Auschwitz have influenced his creative works which have increasingly focused on the struggle against social injustices especially racism.