Violins From Holocaust To Be Featured In Illinois Philharmonic Finale

PARK FOREST, IL — Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s 45th Anniversary Season Finale concert promises to be more moving and meaningful than usual as the three-time Illinois Council of Orchestra’s Professional ‘Orchestra of the Year’ will utilize, in its live concert performance, several violins owned and played by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust.

The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. on May 13, 2023, at the 1,100-seat, state of the art Ozinga Chapel concert venue on the grounds of Trinity Christian College, 6601 W. College Drive in Palos Heights. Tickets can be purchased at IPOmusic.org or by calling the IPO Box Office at 708.481.7774.

The concert program will include the World Premiere of Nifrach, a work by IPO Composer-in-Residence Jonathan Cziner dedicated to his grandfather, who lost many family members in the Holocaust. The concert will also feature Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 and Amy Beach’s Symphony in E minor, op. 32.

"Musical instruments are a vessel for music, but on this night, our orchestra will be these magnificent instruments’ vessel," said Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Executive Director Christina Salerno. "To know these instruments, the exact ones that were present and are part of so much history, will once again have music emanating from them is nothing short of extraordinary. This night will be history and hope come to life, and we are incredibly humbled to carry the violins’ message into our concert hall."

The violins are made available by Violins of Hope hosted by JCC Chicago. Violins of Hope are a collection of 70 string instruments that were played by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust and have been donated or purchased from survivors. The instruments have been painstakingly restored and are now coming to the Chicagoland area for cultural exhibitions, performances, and community education with a message of hope, resistance, resilience, and unity.