The Nashville Symphony has commenced its months-long program entitled “Violins of Hope” that, in addition to focusing on beautiful music and instruments, aims to open cultural discussion throughout Middle Tennessee communities.

The program gets its name from a collection of violins that were played by musicians during the Holocaust. These instruments miraculously survived that tragedy and have been restored to excellent condition.

“Each of these instruments has a remarkable story to tell about resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable difficulty,” says Alan D. Valentine, Nashville Symphony president and CEO. “This singular collection will serve as a springboard for many of Nashville’s cultural organizations to explore the vital role that music, the arts and creativity play in all of our lives. We are thrilled to be working with so many enthusiastic partners on this historic initiative.”

Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein

The instruments are now on display at the Nashville Public Library through May 27 (aside from a brief gap from April 10–14). That exhibit is free and open to the public.

Additionally, the Violins of Hope project will also tie into numerous other speeches, film screenings, concerts and art installations in April and May.

The Nashville Symphony and its partners have high hopes for the project and believe that it will give younger generations a better understanding of the Holocaust.

“The Jewish Federation of Nashville is honored to partner with the Nashville Symphony in bringing the Violins of Hope to Nashville,” says Mark S. Freedman, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Foundation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. “For our Jewish community, this represents a profoundly important opportunity to let these sacred instruments provide a measure of redemption to the millions of Holocaust victims who perished simply because they were Jews. These violins should serve as a clarion call throughout our city that the words ‘never again’ must resonate through every one of us in our collective struggle to overcome bigotry and hatred.”

Zimmerman Violn

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Violins of Hope’s April events and related projects include:

April 10 – Violins of Hope: Strings of the Holocaust, a documentary about the vintage instruments, will air on NPT-1 at 5 p.m.

April 10 – A special concert entitled “The Sound of Silent Voices” will be held at Vanderbilt University Central Library starting at 7 p.m. Ton Beau String Quartet performs music based on poetry written by children of the Holocaust.

April 10 – Treblinka’s Last Witness, a documentary about the last living survivor of the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, will air on NPT-1 at 11 p.m.

April 11 – Nova: Holocaust Escape Tunnel, a documentary about archaeologists investigating the remains of a Nazi death camp, will air on NPT-1 at 8 p.m.

April 11 – The documentary GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II, will air on NPT-1 at 8 p.m.

April 12–14 – Nashville Symphony performs Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 and three works by Elgar alongside Israeli-born musician Pinchas Zukerman at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The April 12 show will begin at 7 p.m. with subsequent concerts beginning at 8 p.m.

April 18 – Blair School of Music faculty and Nashville Symphony musicians will perform music by composers who were affected profoundly by the Holocaust. Several of the Violins of Hope will be used during that event, which begins at 8 p.m. in the Steve and Judy Turner Recital Hall at Blair School of Music.

April 22 – Living On: Tennesseans Remembering the Holocaust is an NPT original documentary about Tennessee Holocaust Commission’s mission to interview all the Holocaust survivors currently in Tennessee. There will be a screening of the film at 2:30 p.m. at the Main Public Library Auditorium in Nashville.

April 22 – Violinist Sylvia Samis, who is the daughter of Holocaust survivors, will perform music written in concentration camps and ghettos. The concert will be held at the Blair School of Music at 8 p.m.

April 25 – Part one of a lecture series entitled Voices of Hope: The Power of Music will be held at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville at 7 p.m. Joy H. Calico, a Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Musicology, will discuss how music plays a role in war and genocide.

April 28 – Brand New Hope, a cultural program centered around equality, will be held at Vanderbilt University’s Langford Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

April 29 – Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List will be screened at Blair School of Music at 3 p.m.

April 29 – The Fisk Jubilee Singers will perform negro spirituals at 3 p.m. at the Main Public Library Auditorium in Nashville.

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Visit violinsofhopensh.com for more information on the project.