Stories From the Violins of Hope by Carol Kaufman Segal

            The Braid (formerly The Jewish Women’s Theatre) was scheduled to do a live production of Stories from the Violins of Hope last spring at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles  Since they had to postpone performing the production live due to COVID, they made the decision to present a live performance of it on Zoom.  It was a magnificent presentation, written by Lisa Rosenbaum, directed by Susan Morgenstern, and Ronda Spinak, Artistic Director and Producer.    

            With beautiful music performed throughout by five marvelous musicians from the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony,  Amnon Weinstein tells the story about how he, along with his son Avshalom, began collecting and restoring the violins that survived the Holocaust. 

            Virtuoso violinist Niv Ashkenazi, plays the only violin from the Violins of Hope collection that is currently in the United States.  The rest of the collection remains in Israel until live concerts can begin again.  The violins that Amnon collected had survived concentration camps, ghettos, transport trains and the forests of Eastern Europe.    The story is one that had to be told, as Amnon said.

            Rick Zieff performed the role of Moshe, Amnon Weinstein's father, and Robert Trebor played   Amnon Weinstein.  Other members of the cast included Rosie Moss, Cliff Weisman, Andrew Fromer, Lisa Ann Grant, and A. J. Meijer.

            I hope that when the pandemic is behind us, The Braid will have the opportunity to present this marvelous production in their theatre for those who did not get the opportunity to see it and for those who would, like me, wish to see it again.