Mamlok was born as Ursula Meyer in Berlin , Germany , into a Jewish family , and studied piano and composition with Professor Gustav Ernest and Emily Weissgerber until her family fled Nazi Germany following the nationwide pogrom in 1938 . Due to American immigration quotas , the family moved to Guayaquil , Ecuador . Ursula immigrated alone to New York City in 1940 to attend the Mannes School of Music , which had offered her full scholarship on the basis of one of her compositions . Her parents followed in 1941 . She became an American citizen in 1945
nationwide pogrom
Kristallnacht
Ursula Mamlok