EXHIBITION
May 3 to June 16
10:00am - 5:00pm Daily
Studio Bell, Home of the National Music Centre
Violins of Hope is an exhibition of historic musical instruments that survived World War II and were owned by victims of the Shoah. Although the violins come from many different backgrounds, they are tied together through the singular history of the persecution of European Jews and the Holocaust. Each violin proudly stands as a monument to survivors and victims, and reminds us of the light, hope, and peace that music can bring into even the darkest moments.
CONCERT
Wednesday, May 15
7:30pm
Jack Singer Concert Hall
It was an unforgettable performance by the Calgary Philharmonic – a musical journey from Holocaust to hope – in a unique concert where restored instruments once belonging to Jewish victims of the Holocaust, came to life through stories of injustice, suffering, resilience, and survival. Wherever there was music, there was hope.
Doors opened one hour early for a pre-concert meet and greet with Avshi Weinstein, owner of the violins.
SOLD OUT CONCERT
Sunday, May 26
7:30PM
Studio Bell, Home of the National Music Centre
Montreal-based musician Socalled made the Calgary debut of a program of Yiddish songs with string quartet that has been presented internationally in cities such as Venice, London, New York, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Paris, and more. The all-Jewish string quartet masterfully played some of the historic instruments from the Violins of Hope collection. The evening included a mix of lively and heart-wrenching Yiddish arrangements of art songs, folk songs, and klezmer music – featuring Socalled on vocals, piano, and accordion.
FILM SCREENING
Wednesday, May 29
7:00 - 9:00PM
Patricia A. Whelan Performance Hall - Central Library
Join us for a special screening of Orchestra of Exiles – the suspenseful chronicle of how one man helped save Europe's premier Jewish musicians from obliteration by the Nazis during World War II. In three years, Bronislaw Huberman transformed from a world-renowned violinist to a humanitarian racing against time.
SOLD OUT CONCERT
Sunday, June 2
7:30pm
Studio Bell, Home of the National Music Centre
The Secret Poetess of Terezin is based on JUNO Award-winning singer and composer Lenka Lichtenberg’s award-winning Thieves of Dreams album (which draws on recently discovered poems that her grandmother wrote while imprisoned in Theresienstadt, a WWII concentration camp in Czechoslovakia). The intensely personal, yet ultimately universal narrative is a story of passion, of love received, embraced, rejected, and lost; of dreams and relationships evolving and dissolving under the pressure of monumental historical events. The songs (sung in both English and Czech), along with spoken word pieces, projections of archival images, and specially curated video clips, offer an immersive and intimate performing arts experience that audiences have been strongly connecting with.