On April 27, the orchestra program held a concert for all levels of orchestra students which started on. The concert started at 7 pm and ended at 8:30 p.m. The Freshman Concert orchestra started their performance and was followed by the Philharmonic and the Viking Strings. 

After the Viking Strings,  a representative of JCC Chicago spoke about the Violins of Hope and the story behind the violins. JCC Chicago is hosting the Violins of Hope and they are performing all across the metropolitan area in schools and other music halls. There are over 70 string instruments that are still in good condition and two of those violins were played during the orchestra concert. 

After giving the audience the story behind Violins of Hope, orchestra teacher Jennifer Page and Symphonic student Azi Altgold gave a beautiful rendition of the theme from Schindler’s List.

There were many new faces in the audience that had never heard the Niles North orchestra play yet and were anticipating the performance of orchestra teacher Jennifer Page and Symphonic student Azi Altgold. 

Both violins sounded incredible considering their age and environment. The violin that Azi played was adorned with a carving of the Star of David on the back. 

After the performance, the audience was moved, most especially the players. 

“There were many highlights from my concert the other night,” 2022 Skokie Award for Artistic Excellence orchestra teacher Jennifer Page said in a Facebook post. “I had the honor of playing the theme from Schindler’s List on this beautiful violin with my sweet student and dear friend and colleague Drew Dahan.”

“It was very moving, especially to be in the presence of those violins and hearing about where they came from. I was very moved playing it because I didn’t expect the violin to sound so great or easy to play. I felt like I really wanted to do justice to the violin while I was playing it,” Page said. “It was neat to play with Mr. Dahan and my student Azi.”

To watch Altgold and Page’s performance, visit this link. 

If you would like to learn more about JCC Chicago’s Violins of Hope or are planning to watch any live performances, visit this link.

Page and Altgold’s performance was a symbol of hope and they both certainly gave due justice to the violins that they played. Although there are no words to describe how disheartening the history behind the stringed instruments is, their performance shows that good always triumphs over evil and that music is a celebration of courage and heart.