Violins of Hope returns to LA, Long Beach

The Violins of Hope had just arrived in Southern California in March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic shut down a planned series of concerts and educational events, culminating in two Long Beach concerts.

They’re back.

Violins of Hope is a collection of instruments played by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. Some were played in the concentration camps, where millions of Jews were killed. Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom collected and restored the violins, violas and cellos with the idea of using them to educate the world, according to press releases.

Avshalom Weinstein is accompanying the collection and participating in programs along with Israeli musicians and Dr. James A. Grymes, author of the book “Violins of Hope.” A tour-launch concert is set for Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the Raymond Kabbaz Theater in LA with Delirium Musicum, a self-conducted chamber orchestra.

Much of December is full of Violins of Hope concerts and presentations, including an already-open exhibition at the Holocaust Museum LA, 100 The Grove Drive in Los Angeles. Another highlight is expected to be the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony conducted by Dr. Noreen Green performing at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at The Soraya in Northridge.

“The Violins of Hope visit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Kelly Ruggirello Lucera, president of the Long Beach Symphony. “It’s a chance for Long Beach to come together and unite the community with the power of music.

“It has an impact over a wide range of diverse communities — schools, religious organizations, the arts,” she added.

The violins will arrive Jan. 3 In Long Beach and visit classrooms across the city. The full Long Beach Symphony will perform Jan. 8 at the Terrace Theater in the Beverly O’Neill Performing Arts Center with Israeli violinist Niv Ashkenazi. Long Beach Symphony’s own Cécilia Tsan will be featured on cello.

The program that night includes John Williams’s theme from “Schindler’s List”; “Hatikvah” (the Israeli national anthem), featured in the movie “Munich”; and Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidre.” The finale will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem” in D minor, featuring the Camerata Singers.

“I look forward to joining the wonderful musicians of the Long Beach Symphony to share this remarkable collection of Holocaust surviving instruments,” Music Director Eckart Preu said in a release. “Each serves as a testament to the perseverance and resilience of the human spirit, and the soul of each instrument has been shaped by its individual journey.

“I think anyone who attends these performances,” Preu added, “will be deeply touched and awed by the power of this collection.”

On Sunday, Jan. 9, a chamber orchestra will move into the more intimate Beverly O’Neill Theater, also in the Performing Arts Center, for a mixed media performance being called Songs and Stories of Hope. Ashkenazi will return to play with the symphony’s chamber ensemble, and Weinstein also will appear.

The back stories of the instruments will be surrounded by music from Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, along with rarely heard pieces by Jewish composers who both survived and perished at the hand of the Nazis, according to the release.

Tickets are available now for the Long Beach concerts: 562-436-3203 or LongBeachSymphony.org.

For information and tickets for the rest of the Southern California tour: violinsofhopelosangeles.org.