The sound of instruments once carried through ghettos, concert halls and the upheaval of World War II filled Madison Theatre at Molloy University on March 12, when the Symphony of Hope brought together musicians, educators and community members for an evening of remembrance through music.
Presented collaboratively by Molloy University, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County and the Long Island Concert Orchestra, the concert featured instruments from the internationally known Violins of Hope collection — violins once owned and played by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust that have since been meticulously restored for modern performance.
“It really brings to life the people who once owned them and played on them in real time,” said David Winkler, executive director and composer-in-residence of the Long Island Concert Orchestra.
Winkler, who founded the orchestra in 2016, described the performance as both a memorial and a communal experience.
“I consider Symphony of Hope to be a celebration of the human spirit through music,” he said.
The program paired local and international talent. The Long Island Concert Orchestra performed alongside the Long Island Choral Society, with rising guest conductor Jeffrey Dokken on the podium and violinist Simon Zhu appearing as a featured soloist.
The repertoire blended historical reflection with contemporary composition, including Violin Concerto No. 7 by Long Island composer Alexey Shor and a work by Winkler titled Pacifica, which is “dedicated to peace.” Grammy-nominated music director Enrico Fagone was listed as the orchestra’s artistic leader.
Institutional leaders said the concert also carried a broader educational mission.
“Molloy University is honored to host The Symphony of Hope at our Madison Theatre,” Molloy University President James Lentini said.
Jolanta Zamecka, vice chair of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County and a Long Island Concert Orchestra board member, emphasized the importance of connecting the performance to remembrance and education.
“The Symphony of Hope enables us to honor musicians whose lives ended far too soon and to inspire future generations to reject hatred and intolerance,” Zamecka said.
Michael Klinghoffer, president of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, said the arts have a unique ability to bridge time and geography.
“They have a power to transcend time and place and bring the world together with a healing presence,” Klinghoffer said.
During the Holocaust, which lasted from 1933 to 1945 under Nazi Germany and its collaborators, millions of Jews were systematically persecuted and murdered. Beginning in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Jewish families were forced into overcrowded urban ghettos across occupied Europe, where they endured starvation, disease and brutal living conditions. Many were later deported to concentration camps and extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor, where forced labor, imprisonment and mass killings became central components of the Nazi regime’s genocide. In many ghettos, Nazi authorities established strict curfews, rationed food to near-starvation levels and prohibited residents from leaving the enclosed districts.
Deportations from these ghettos often occurred with little warning, as families were forced onto trains bound for camps across occupied Poland and Germany. By the end of World War II, approximately six million Jews had been killed in the Holocaust, along with millions of other victims targeted by the Nazi regime.
Only a portion of the Violins of Hope collection was used during the Madison Theatre performance. Roughly 70 instruments in the collection are currently in performing condition, while many others are still awaiting restoration.
Avshi Weinstein, who continues the restoration legacy begun by his father, master luthier Amnon Weinstein, participated in the presentation, bringing historical insight and craftsmanship connected to the project.
Winkler said violins played a unique role in preserving cultural identity during the Holocaust.
“Only the violins fall into this category,” he said. “All other instruments were either discarded or torn apart. Violins are relatively small instruments that can be taken, put into a knapsack, into a bag.”
Because of their portability, persecuted musicians were sometimes able to carry the instruments with them, preserving a connection to their culture and, in some cases, even a means of survival.
The Long Island Concert Orchestra traces its roots to the Sea Cliff Chamber Players, which formed in 1971. The group evolved through several iterations before Winkler established the Long Island Concert Orchestra in 2016 after the Long Island Philharmonic ceased operations.
Winkler said the orchestra was created to meet Long Island’s “growing needs” with large-scale performances and community-oriented programming.
Each instrument in the Violins of Hope collection carries its own story — some were played in ghettos or camp orchestras, others were hidden away or carried by musicians who escaped persecution.
By performing with the restored violins, organizers hoped the stories behind them would resonate with modern audiences while preserving the memory of those who once played them.
