• College of Arts + Architecture Presents North American Premiere of Violins of Hope

• Thursday, June 30th, 2011
• COA+A

College of Arts + Architecture Presents North American Premiere of Violins of Hope

The UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture will present Violins of Hope, bringing to North America for the first time 18 violins recovered from the Holocaust and restored by Israeli master violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. The instruments will come to Charlotte in April 2012 for a series of exhibitions and performances. The Violins of Hope project is made possible in part by the generous support of Wells Fargo Private Bank, the exclusive corporate partner.

“Wells Fargo Private Bank is dedicated to serving the community we’re in,” said Madelyn Caple, regional managing director for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “Through our sponsorship of Violins of Hope, we are pleased to support both local education and art.”

In 1996, Amnon Weinstein began to collect and carefully restore violins that had extraordinary histories. Each violin is an artifact from one of the greatest tragedies in human history, the Holocaust. Some were played by Jewish prisoners in Nazi concentration camps; others belonged to the Jewish Klezmer musical culture, which was all but destroyed in the Holocaust.

First played publicly in 2008 in Jerusalem and then exhibited and played in 2010 in Sion, Switzerland, the 18 Violins of Hope have never before been exhibited or played together in North America. Their American debut in Charlotte, and the rich programming inspired by their arrival, will garner national attention.

“When Anne R. Belk Distinguished Professor of Music David Russell came to UNC Charlotte two years ago, he brought with him his deep friendship with Amnon Weinstein and his family,” said Ken Lambla, Dean of the College of Arts + Architecture. “The trust and affection between these two men is the seed from which a remarkable project has grown, allowing UNC Charlotte to bring to this hemisphere instruments that offer rare insight into how music offers inspiration to the human spirit and substance to our relationships with others. Each violin appears fragile, almost lonely, and yet each one carries with it the strength of memory.”

In collaboration with numerous partners in the arts and education, the College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte will present a series of performances, exhibitions, film screenings, and educational programs that explore the history of music and the arts in the face of oppression. The exhibition of the 18 Violins of Hope in the College of Arts + Architecture’s new Center City Gallery from April 14-24, 2012 is the nexus of the entire project, tying together each performance, program, and educational component.

Performances featuring the violins begin on April 12, 2012 in a concert celebrating the people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, who saved some 5,000 Jews during the Holocaust. The project’s final performance will take place at the Belk Theater of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center on April 21 with a concert by the Charlotte Symphony, conducted by Music Director Christopher Warren-Green and featuring violinist Shlomo Mintz and other special guests. Related programming begins as early as February 2012, with the exhibitions Courage and Compassion: The Legacy of the Bielski Brothers and Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina at Levine Museum of the New South. Additional information about the full series of programs will be released in upcoming weeks.

“The College of Arts + Architecture is delighted to be working with so many cultural and academic partners,” said Dean Lambla. “The Violins of Hope project demonstrates our commitment to engage with a broad array of institutions in Charlotte that educate and collaborate to make this community a better place to live.”

Violins of Hope Cultural Partners

Partners include the Arts & Science Council, Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte Teachers Institute, Foundation for the Carolinas, The Foundation for the Jewish Community, Johnson C. Smith University, Levine Museum of the New South, Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and Resource Center, Myers Park Baptist Church, Queens University of Charlotte, Sandra and Leon Levine Jewish Community Center.

About the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture

Established in 2008, the College of Arts + Architecture represents 1200 students and nearly 100 full-time faculty members in five creative disciplines: art and art history, architecture, dance, music, and theatre. Dedicated to interdisciplinary conversation, collaboration, and innovation, the College of Arts + Architecture demonstrates UNC Charlotte’s commitment to arts and culture on campus and in the broader community. The College presents exhibitions, lectures, and nearly 100 performances each year. For more information, visit www.coaa.uncc.edu.

About Wells Fargo Private Bank

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.2 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 280,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America.  Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 23 on Fortune’s 2011 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.  (5/5/11)

For more information about the Violins of Hope project, please contact Meg Freeman Whalen, Director of Communications and External Relations for the College of Arts + Architecture, at meg.whalen@uncc.edu or 704-687-2035.