The University of North Carolina at Charlotte will be welcoming 18 violins that survived the Holocaust, thanks to the efforts of the school’s Anne R. Belk Distinguished Professor of Music David Russell. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte will be welcoming 18 violins that survived the Holocaust, thanks to the efforts of the school’s Anne R. Belk Distinguished Professor of Music David Russell.
Visitors to the school will have the opportunity to hear the violins (dubbed “Violins of Hope”) at several different concerts throughout the spring. These events included a multi-media “Hope in Resistance” program on April 12; “Hope in Dark Places: Music and Poetry from Theresienstadt” (music from imprisoned composers and artwork from captive children) at Queens University’s Dana Auditorium on April 17; and “Triumph of Hope” with the Charlotte Symphony on April 21.
Israeli craftsman Amnon Weinstein began to collect and restore these specific violins, several of which were played by Jewish prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Find more information on the exhibit and performances at the event website, www.violinsofhopecharlotte.com.