The composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann was a prominent figure in Munich's cultural life in the post-war period. As early as the summer of 1945, he began organizing concerts featuring contemporary music and works by composers who had been marginalized just a short time before, on behalf of the Bavarian State Opera and later the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation. Numerous obstacles had to be overcome in war-damaged Munich to establish the concert series musica viva, which under his leadership became a globally recognized forum for new and contemporary music within just a few years. Karl Amadeus Hartmann already had experience in this field, having gathered it before 1933 in the Munich artists' association Die Juryfreien, where he supported their vibrant exhibition activities with chamber concerts. This publication provides a comprehensive overview of Hartmann's organizational activities and demonstrates that after 1945, he was able to draw on existing contacts with composers and performers in building up musica viva. In addition to presenting the programs of the Juryfreien concerts from the pre-1933 period, the concert programs of musica viva from 1945 to 1950 have been detailed based on thorough source research.