Exhibit of 18 violins tells story of the Holocaust

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In this April 9, 2012 photo, the back of a violin showing a Star of David is shown on display at the Violins of Hope exhibit at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, N.C. Eighteen violins recovered from the Holocaust and restored by Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinsten make their U.S. debut on Sunday, April 15. Some were played by Jewish prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, while others belonged to the Jewish Klezmer musical culture. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)


By MARTHA WAGGONER | Associated Press – Fri, Apr 13, 2012

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — When a musician plays a violin long enough, the instrument is imprinted with its owner's way of making sound. If someone else picks it up, they learn to play it in a way that honors its history.

So when David Russell places a violin played in the World War II concentration camp of Auschwitz under his chin, he lets the violin tell him how to do it. The Auschwitz violin and 17 others with connections to the vanished world of Europe's prewar Jewish communities are part of a new exhibit and performance series called "Violins of Hope."

"When the violinists in 'Violins of Hope' play these instruments and they find how to make these instruments sound their best, they're actually bringing back patterns from the former performers who used to play them," said Russell, a music professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. "So we get an imprint, as it were, of that person. They're with us, they're in the concert."

"Violins of Hope" opens Monday at UNC Charlotte Center City and will remain on view through April 20 and again April 22-24. The program includes related exhibits at other museums and several performances using the violins. The project's final concert will take place April 21 at the Charlotte Symphony, with noted violinist Shlomo Mintz taking part.

http://news.yahoo.com/exhibit-18-violins-tells-story-holocaust-200500572.html

http://www.violinsofhopecharlotte.com

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1. Thank you for posting. Beautiful!

I hope the exhibit travels. My daughter is studying Art
Conservation and as a violinist herself, was thinking of
specializing in stringed instrument restoration.