Niv Ashkenazi: Violins of Hope

Niv Ashkenazi, violin
Matthew Graybil, piano

Albany Records TROY1810 (2020)

Listen to the Album

Acclaim

Introduction

Violins of Hope is an artistic and educational project composed of instruments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. Violins in the collection were played in the concentration camps and ghettos, providing a source of comfort for some and a means of survival for others. Above all, the instruments represented strength and optimism for the future during mankind’s darkest hour. Wherever there was music, there was hope.

The project was founded by Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom Weinstein, Israeli luthiers who collect the instruments, refurbish them to concert quality, and bring them to communities all over the world. The Violins of Hope have traveled to Jerusalem, Sion, Madrid, Maastricht, Monaco, Rome, Berlin, London, Bucharest, Dachau, Dresden, and Auschwitz. In the United States, the project has been presented in Charlotte, Cleveland, Houston, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Nashville, Birmingham, Knoxville, Phoenix, Louisville, Fort Wayne, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. A typical residency includes an exhibition, performances, and educational programs.

Although the instruments make beautiful museum pieces, at the heart of the Violins of Hope project is the Weinsteins’ commitment to ensuring that the instruments are played again. While some of the musicians who originally owned the Violins of Hope may have been silenced by the Holocaust, their voices and spirits live on through performances on their instruments. The Violins of Hope have been played by virtuosos such as Shlomo Mintz and Daniel Hope, and revered ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. Niv Ashkenazi is the only violinist in the world to hold an instrument from the Violins of Hope collection on a long-term loan.

— James A. Grymes, author of Violins of Hope

A note from the Weinstein family

A note from Niv Ashkenazi

I first became involved with Violins of Hope in 2017. As an alum of the Perlman Music Program, I was invited to join several other musicians performing on instruments from the collection in recitals and educational programs for Violins of Hope Sarasota. Shortly afterwards, this developed into a long-term collaboration and I received the violin used on this album on long-term loan. Since that time, I have been playing on it for Violins of Hope events as well as for other special projects.

In most Violins of Hope events, musicians have a limited time with each instrument. I have been given a unique opportunity to develop a relationship with this special instrument and its voice.

One of the missions of Violins of Hope is to help silenced voices be heard again. This album is intended to create a permanent chronicle of that voice so it is never again silenced. The violin was built between 1900-1929 in eastern Europe or Germany. I have chosen Jewish repertoire from throughout its lifetime: the earliest piece, Bloch’s Nigun, was written in 1923. The most recent piece is Sharon Farber’s arrangement of a movement from her cello concerto Bestemming, commissioned especially for this recording. Like the instruments in the Violins of Hope collection, most of these composers were affected by the Holocaust, many directly so.

For this recording, I played on a bow made by Daniel Schmidt, who worked in the Weinstein shop in Tel Aviv in the 1990s. I bought the bow in 2017, and only learned several years later that Daniel Schmidt played a key role in encouraging Amnon Weinstein to begin work with the collection of instruments.

Collaborators

Matthew Graybil – Pianist

Praised by The New Yorker as an “exceptional young artist” and as a “major talent” by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, American pianist Matthew Graybil has performed throughout the United States, Canada and Europe in venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center and Lincoln Center. He has appeared on radio and television, including WNYC, WQXR, WWFM, CBS Chicago, the Discovery Channel, and PBS.

Since making his orchestral debut at age 14, he has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony and the National Chamber Players among many others. An avid chamber musician, he has been invited to festivals including the American Academy in Fontainebleau, the Ravinia Steans Institute, the Sarasota Music Festival and the Perlman Music Program. Artists with whom he has collaborated include Itzhak Perlman, the Enso String Quartet, and the Ulysses String Quartet.

He has been a prize-winner in the MTNA/Yamaha National Piano Competition, the New York Piano Competition, the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, the Juilliard Gina Bachauer Competition, the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, and the Wideman International Piano Competition.

Graybil was a pupil of Harvey Wedeen for six years and completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at The Juilliard School, where he worked with Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio.

Sharon Farber - Composer

Four - time Emmy Award Nominated, Winner of the 2013 Society of Composers and Lyricists Award for “Outstanding work in the Art of Film Music”, the 2012 Visionary Award In Music by The Women’s International Film & Television Showcase, winner of the Telly Award, and a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures, Sharon Farber is a celebrated Film, TV and concert music composer.

A graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Film scoring and Concert composition (dual major), Sharon has been working with networks and cable broadcasters like NBC, CBS, Showtime and the WB as well as writing music for feature films.

 In the concert music world, Sharon has many national and international credits to her name, including The Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pacific Serenade Ensemble, The Israeli Chamber Orchestra, The Northwest Sinfonietta, The Bellingham Symphony, Orange County Women’s Chorale, Culver City Symphony Orchestra, The Jewish Symphony Orchestra, iPalpiti Artists International and more.