LA Jewish Symphony Violins of Hope Concert at Cal St Northridge- 12/21
Los Angeles Jewish Symphony Violins of Hope Concert at the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts at CA State Northridge
The Violins of Hope is a collection of over 100 restored violins, violas and cellos. These instruments were played during the Holocaust, both in ghettos and concentration camps by Jewish musicians. They have been collected and now restored to top-quality playing level by Amnon and Avshi Weinstein, the father and son Luthiers in Tel Aviv, Israel. After Amnon founded the traveling project, Violins of Hope, it has traveled mostly throughout the United States and it is used as teaching opportunities and in classical music concerts, dedicated to telling the long-forgotten stories of these stringed instruments and the people who played them.
On Sunday evening December 13, 2021 a full auditorium witnessed Dr. Noreen Green lead the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, with Lindsay Deutsch violin soloist and Barry Gold cello soloist in a very powerful and moving event. The concert opened with Schindler’s List Suite from the Academy and Grammy Award-winning score by composer John Williams, with dynamic violinist Lindsay Deutsch as soloist. LAJS Principal Cellist and Los Angeles Philharmonic player Barry Gold performed the rhapsodic cello solo in Max Bruch’s Kol Nidre, which draws inspiration from the traditional Jewish melody. Deutsch returned to the stage for Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem: Three Pictures of Hassidic Life, an exotic triptych that probes the underlying spirit of Hassidic devotion. The evening concluded with Sid Robinovitch’s rousing Suite for Klezmer Band and Orchestra, with additional klezmer musicians joining the orchestra.
For the surprise encore, the orchestra played a crowd pleasing medley of songs from Fiddler on the Roof.
Violinist Lindsay Deutsch played one of the rescued violins of the Holocaust throughout the evening, along with members of the symphony playing additional rescued violins. The concert can can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/
Additional information about Violins of Hope, and their upcoming Los Angeles concerts can be found at https://
Located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, The Soraya Performing Arts Center is one of the cultural jewels of Los Angeles. They provide a wide variety of performances through the year. This is a very beautiful 1,700 seat theatre and we were welcomed by very helpful and friendly staff. Ample parking is available. We highly enjoyed, and recommend, this venue. We will be definitely return to enjoy another high level performance. https://www.
Article and review written by Jeff Zimerman.