Presented in partnership with B’nai Vail
Violins of Hope is a project of concerts, education and community engagement based on a private collection of string instruments owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. Luthiers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein lovingly restored the instruments, preserving their voices and the stories they carry. They have become symbols of hope and a way to say, “Remember me, remember us. Life is good, celebrate it for those who perished, for those who survived. For all people.”
Violins of Hope is not only a memorial to a lost culture and people, it is also an educational act that reaches young students and adults wherever our concerts are performed. In recent years some of the most world renowned orchestras have held Violins of Hope concerts, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Symphony and many others. Every concert brings together people of all faiths and backgrounds. Every project is accompanied by an extensive educational program. In this family friendly program that will weave together the stories and the playing of the violins, they will share the history of some instruments – such as the violin which was thrown out of a cattle train on the way from France to Auschwitz; the violin that was buried under snow in Holland; the violin that saved the lives of people who played in a camp orchestra and survived.
Recommended reading available at The Bookworm in Edwards
“Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust–Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour” by James A. Grymes
(For kids) “Violin of Hope” by Ella Schwartz
