VIOLINS OF HOPE Comes to Canada

The Montreal Holocaust Museum, in collaboration with the Orchestre Métropolitain, present The Violins of Hope, a concert under the direction of the internationally-renowned Dutch conductor Vincent De Kort. Following select performances in Europe and the United States, the Violins of Hope will be played for the first time in Canada by musicians of the Orchestre Métropolitain at Maison symphonique de Montréal, Place des Arts on Saturday, November 2nd at 7:30 pm.

The Violins of Hope are a collection of more than 70 string instruments restored by Israeli master luthier Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom Weinstein. These violins were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust and have survived pogroms, concentration camps, and the passage of time. They now represent stories of injustice, suffering, resilience and survival. Eight of these precious violins will travel to Montreal for the concert on November 2nd.

"My mission is to get hold of any violin that has been rescued from the Holocaust, to repair it and to make it into a concert violin. I want these violins to be played, to have their voices heard and have their say, because these violins have a very particular sound: voices, weeping, laughter and prayers escape," stated Amnon Weinstein.

Master violin-maker Amnon Weinstein is involved in initiating and promoting concerts and educational projects about violins around the world. He works with orchestras and artists both in Israel and abroad.

The November 2nd concert will be both a tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and to the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands by the Canadian Armed Forces. Between October 2 and November 8, 1944, the First Canadian Army fought the Nazi forces installed on the banks of the Scheldt River, thereby liberating the port of Antwerp and saving the lives of thousands of Dutch citizens. Access to this port was essential for supplying the Allies and facilitating their advance to defeat Adolf Hitler's forces and liberate Europe.

The Violins of Hope offer a unique and moving program including works by J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Jocelyn Morlock, as well as the premiere of Children's War Diaries by Canadian composer Jaap Nico Hamburger. The new chamber symphony by Hamburger, this year's Mécénat Musica Composer in Residence, was inspired by a compilation of diaries of teenagers murdered during the war, as well as a visit to the Children's Memorial at Yad Vashem. Cantorial music in honour of Holocaust victims will be performed by soprano Sharon Azrieli and tenor Gideon Zelermyer.

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