Violins of Hope is a project of concerts based on a private collection of violins, violas and cellos all collected since the end of World War II. Many of the instruments belonged to Jewish musicians before and during the war. Many were donated by or bought from survivors; some arrived through family members; and many simply carry Stars of David as a decoration.
Some of the violins are decorated with six-sided stars that were added by the original violin makers. In the early twentieth century, it was not uncommon for amateur violinists to purchase instruments customized with symbolic inlays. Growing up in Israel, violinmaker Amnon Weinstein met many Klezmer musicians who had purchased these pre-war instruments specifically for what they proudly identified as Star of David. The more “Jewish” a violin looked, the klezmorim explained to Amnon, the more likely that the local Rabbi would recommend that its owner be hired to play for weddings and the more likely that the performer would receive tips from the celebrants. While the provenances of these instruments are not always clear, they are symbols of Klezmer and other Jewish traditions that were all but completely destroyed during the Holocaust.
All instruments have a common denominator: they are 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.
Violin-makers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, father and son who work in Tel Aviv and Istanbul, own this collection. They dedicate their expertise and endless love to ensure that those instruments, most of which were rather cheap and unsophisticated, get a new beautiful make-over. Not enough, they also get a fantastic sound worthy of the best musicians and large music halls.
The Nazis used music, and especially violins, to humiliate and degrade Jewish musicians in ghettos and camps. They confiscated many thousands of instruments from Jewish people all over Europe. Our concerts are the ultimate answer to their plan to annihilate a people and their culture, to destroy human lives and freedom.
The sound of violins is often compared to the beauty of the human voice. When played with talent and spirit, it is known to reach out and touch hearts. This was the role of violins in the war – to touch hearts, kindle hope for better times and spread it around. Wherever there was music, there was hope.
Our violins present the victory of the human spirit over evil and hatred. As many as 6,000,000 Jewish people were murdered in World War II, but their memory is not forgotten. It comes back to life with every concert and every act of love and celebration of the human spirit.
Violins of Hope is not only a memorial to a lost culture and people, but it is also an educational act that reaches young students and adults wherever our concerts are performed. In recent years some of the most celebrated orchestras held Violins of Hope concerts, among them 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. We visit schools and hold narrated concerts. We tell the histories of some instruments – such as the violin which was thrown out of a cattle train on way from France to Auschwitz; the violin that was buried under the snow in Holland; the violin that saved lives of people who played in the camp orchestra and survived. So many stories, so much history.
Our project offers also an exhibition of over 40 instruments and their individual stories, as was done in Charlotte, NC, in The Maltz museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland, OH, in the lobby of the Berlin Philharmonic, Nashville TN, and many more places.
Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 8:00 PM The Hemmens Cultural Center
Matthew Sheppard, conductor
MENDELSSOHN Sinfonia No. 10 in B minor
MAHLER Adagietto from Symphony No. 5
SCHULHOFF Three Pieces for String Orchestra
Elegie im Stile Edward Griegs
Menuetto im alten Stil
Pipa tanzt
~ Intermission ~
HAAS Study for Strings
TOCH Dedication
JOHN WILLIAMS Theme from Schindler’s List
arr. Longfield Isabella Lippi, violin
BARTÓK Romanian Folk Dances
This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Seigle Foundation
ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL
Violin I
Isabella Lippi
Concertmaster
Eric Pidluski
Joseph Malmquist
Carol Dylan
Helen Kim Lee
Caroline Slack
Betty Lewis
Paul Zafer
Laura Burns
Kate Carter
Violin II
Maria Arrua
Asst. Principal
Steve Winkler
Susan Thorne
Cristina Buciu
Meghan Lanfear
Kathryn Siegel
Emily Boone
Nina Saito
Viola
Loretta Gillespie Principal
Becky Coffman
Susan Posner
Ben Weber
Annika Sundberg
Jacqueline Scavetta
Cello
Nazar Dzhuryn
Asst. Principal
Sara Sitzer
Mark Kuntz
Robert Weber
Richard Yeo
Double Bass
Timothy Shaffer Principal
Gregory Heintz
Susan Sullivan
Tracy Dullea
Harp
Lillian Lau
ESO BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DIRECTORS
R. Bert Crossland Board Chair
Andre Fiebig
Immediate Past Board Chair
Robert Chiappetta Treasurer
Rev. Arlyn Tolzmann Secretary
Dr. Patricia Harkin Governance Chair
Ross Beacraft*
Carlos Chavez
Michele Clark
Dr. Gene Crume
Joyce Dlugopolski
Jennifer Fukala
Sandra Hagan
K. Eric Larson
Dr. Thomas Long
Mary Maloy
Frank Maxson
Carole Medal
Martin Nobs
Patrick Parks
Ron Rogers
Timothy Shaffer*
Dr. Savitha Susarla
James Tammi
Marc Thayer, CEO*
Herman A. Zwirn
* Ex Officio members
HONORARY LIFETIME DIRECTORS
Harry ◊ & Phyllis Blizzard
Edward & Pearle Brody ◊
Dean & Jane Chipman ◊
EXECUTIVE
Marc Thayer
Chief Executive Officer
Rebecca DeWane
Director of Finance & Administration
ARTISTIC
Eric Gaston-Falk
Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations
Rylan Virnig
Community Partnerships & Personnel Manager
Macauley Manzano
Orchestral Librarian & Patron Services Manager
ADMINISTRATION
DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING
Chuck Kocal
Director of Marketing
Leslie Antoniel Development Consultant
Daphne Kawamoto Digital Marketing Coordinator
Donna Lake Public Relations Manager
Erica Warszewik Box Office Manager
Richard Collins ◊
Ed & Karen Schock Deceased ◊
OPERATIONS
David Goldman
Stage Manager
Eric Block Stage Manager
Elsa Jimenez Translator
LaTrisha Williams In Harmony Program Coordinator
GUEST CONDUCTOR
Matthew Sheppard is a Chicago-based conductor and educator. For the 2022-23 season, he is the Guest Resident Conductor at the Bienen School of Music, where he conducts the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra. He is also the Artistic Director of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Hyde Park Youth Symphony, Education Conductor of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Chicago.
As the Artistic Drector of the award-winning Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Sheppard leads a team of dedicated educators in providing a comprehensive music education to nearly 400 students and families each year. The professional repertoire and thematic curriculum explored each year is designed not only to help student musicians develop artistically and technically, but also to prepare them for a future of complex ideas, creative risk-taking, and leadership as global citizens. This approach led to EYSO being named 2021 Youth Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras (ICO) and to Sheppard being awarded ICO Conductor of the Year in 2022.
Sheppard has guest conducted orchestras in North and South America, including the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Paraguay, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Champaign Urbana Symphony Orchestra, the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, and the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony. As a teacher, Sheppard inspires students to nurture a deep love and understanding of music and performing through his own passion, musicianship, and conducting. Sheppard currently serves as president of the IL Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (IL CMP) Committee as it encourages teaching with intention, and performing with understanding.
Sheppard studied with Donald Schleicher as a doctoral candidate in orchestral conducting at the University of Illinois, and before that he earned his master’s degree in orchestral conducting under Gerardo Edelstein at Penn State University. Past positions include Music Director of the Sangamon Valley Civic Orchestra and Youth Symphony, Orchestra Director at Juniata College, and Assistant Conductor of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Liberal Arts, Music Education, and Violin Performance from Penn State where he studied with Max Zorin.
GUEST SPEAKER
Dr. James A. Grymes is an internationally respected musicologist, a critically acclaimed author, and a dynamic speaker who has addressed audiences at significant public venues such as the United Nations Headquarters, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference, and the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Grymes has been featured in interviews by The New York Times, ABC News, and CNN, and has written essays for the Huffington Post and the Israeli music magazine Opus.
He is the author of Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour (Harper Perennial, 2014). A stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of music, Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, and of the Israeli violinmaker dedicated to bringing these inspirational instruments back to life. The book, which composer John Williams described as “one of the most moving chronicles in the history of Western music,” presents a new way of understanding the Holocaust and is the winner of a National Jewish Book Award. Dr. Grymes is Professor of Musicology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The ESO is proud to be involved in this community-wide collaboration, including the Gail Borden Public Library and The City of Elgin in presenting Violins of Hope. This is an international project brought to the Chicagoland area by the Jewish Community Center of Chicago.
THANK YOU TO THESE SPONSORS
Principal Sponsor – The Seigle Foundation
Concert Sponsor – Florence B. and Cornelia A. Palmer Foundation
In-Kind Sponsor – Elgin Cultural Arts Commission
Other Sponsors
Please visit elginsymphony.org to reserve your seats for the 2023-24 Season!
