Glass built a sizable record collection from the unsold records in his father's store, including modern classical music such as Hindemith, Bartók, Schoenberg, Shostakovich and Western classical music including Beethoven's string quartets and Schubert's B ♭ Piano Trio. : 17 His store soon developed a reputation as Baltimore's leading source of modern music. The elder Glass promoted both new recordings and a wide selection of composers to his customers, sometimes convincing them to try something new by allowing them to return records they didn't like. I caught on to this very early, and I would go and listen with him. Typically he would come home and have dinner, and then sit in his armchair and listen to music until almost midnight. My father was self-taught, but he ended up having a very refined and rich knowledge of classical, chamber, and contemporary music. This openness to modern sounds affected Glass at an early age: Glass spent many hours listening to them, developing his knowledge and taste in music. Glass's father often received promotional copies of new recordings at his music store. He learned his family was also related to Al Jolson. His cousin Cevia was a classical pianist, while others had been in vaudeville. Glass developed his appreciation of music from his father, discovering later his father's side of the family had many musicians. : 15 His sister, Sheppie, would later do similar work as an active member of the International Rescue Committee. : 14 She developed a plan to help them learn English and develop skills so they could find work. In his memoir, Glass recalls that at the end of World War II his mother aided Jewish Holocaust survivors, inviting recent arrivals to America to stay at their home until they could find a job and a place to live. His father owned a record store and his mother was a librarian. His family were Lithuanian-Jewish emigrants. Glass was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Ida (née Gouline) and Benjamin Charles Glass. See also: List of compositions by Philip Glass 1937–1964: Beginnings, early education and influences