THE VIOLIN MAKER is Coming to International City Theatre

 International City Theatre will present the American premiere of The Violin Maker, a new play based on the true story of Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein, who gathered and restored ruined violins that survived the Holocaust to create a remarkable collection known throughout the world as the “Violins of Hope.” Written by Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum and Ronda Spinak (artistic director of The Braid), with musical curation by Dr. Noreen Green (founding artistic director and conductor of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony), and directed by ICT artistic director caryn desai [sic], The Violin Maker opens April 25 for a three-week run through May 11. Performances take place at ICT’s home in the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center. Two low-priced previews are set for April 23 and April 24.

Weinstein (Bruce Nozick) began repairing violins rescued from the Holocaust as a way to keep their histories alive. This new play masterly weaves Weinstein’s extraordinary story with the true tales behind each of the violins — as well as with music, performed live on stage by Dr. Green on piano and Jonathan Rubin on the Shony Alex Braun violin. (Although the Shony Alex Braun violin is not one of the instruments that make up the Violins of Hope collection, it too survived the Holocaust, and we will learn its story during the course of the play.) But before Weinstein can bring these instruments back to life and to the world, he must wrestle with his own ghosts, and with those of his family. In addition to Nozick, the cast includes Sheer Aviram, Matthew Bohrer, Matthew Henerson, Lielle Kaidar, Morgan Dean Lauff and Aviva Pressman, each of whom plays multiple characters in Israel and the U.S. as well as, in memory, in Lithuania and Germany before and during World War II.

According to Rosenbaum and Spinak, “Luthier Amnon Weinstein took what might have become an exhibit of ruined instruments, restored them and put them into the hands of musicians all over the world so that a new generation can hear them. The survivors of the Holocaust will not be here forever, but these violins will continue to tell their stories for generations to come.”

Inspired by conversations Rosenbaum had with Weinstein, The Violin Maker received its world premiere in 2023 at the Bondi Theater in Sydney, Australia. An earlier version, written by Rosenbaum and developed with Spinak at The Braid, was presented as a theatrical work-in-progress under the title Stories from the Violins of Hope. This new, fully-staged play dives deeper, with more stories, scenes and additional music, to follow the arc of Weinstein’s life — from a proud Israeli boy who wanted nothing to do with the Holocaust and his family's pain, to a man who devotes his life to repairing “stringed survivors” whose voices are now heard in concerts around the world, restoring the dignity of their owners for generations to come.

Since 2008, concerts featuring the violins in the collection have taken place around the world, in cities in Israel, Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Romania, Mexico and the U.S. — including one given in conjunction with the Long Beach Symphony, which desai attended.

“Weinstein’s story is deeply moving, as are the stories behind the violins,” she says. They are a true testament to the role music can play to keep hope alive during desperate times.”

As explained on the Violins of Hope website, “The Nazis used music and especially violins to humiliate and degrade Jews in ghettos and camps. They confiscated many thousands of instruments from Jews 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.”

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