Reaching out to Chicago’s Jewish Community

Violins of Hope

On September 11, 2024, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra performed VIOLINS OF HOPE - A NIGHT OF REMEMBRANCE at the Lincolnwood Public Library. The concert featured American music alongside works of composers who perished in the Holocaust and began with speakers from the Jewish Community Center of Chicago, which facilitated the presentation of several World War II era violins refurbished by “Violins of Hope,” which were played at the event.

Philip Simmons with Rabbi Yehuda Meyers (Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation), Ilya Levinson, Alex Kaufman (Maxwell Street Klezmer Band), and Cantor Stewart Figa (Congregation Har Zion)

American Music Festivals has a long tradition of collaboration with Chicago’s Jewish community. From its inception, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra performed semi-annually performances at the Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation, helping build their Fine Arts Series which lasted 25 years.

Prior to the founding of American Music Festivals, conductor Philip Simmons led the Russian American Chamber Orchestra of Chicago in concerts at Bernard Horowitz JCC and Niles Township Jewish Congregation in 1992. The Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra appeared at NTJC in 1994, performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in a fundraising concert for Operation Exodus.

The LCO performed a three concert series at Chicago’s Congregation Shaare Tikvah in 1999. In 2002, American Music Festivals collaborated with the Consulate General of Israel in Chicago in a memorial program for Yitzach Rabin at Northwestern University. In 2003, Albert Igolnikov, former Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Second Violin, appeared as soloist with the Glenview Symphony in Northfield, performing John William’s Three Pieces from Schindler’s List and Ernest Bloch’s Baal Sham. Through the years Mr. Igolnikov made frequent solo appearances with the LCO and served as concertmaster on many occasions.

In 2010, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra performed the Baroque Oratorio “Elyon, Melits U-Mastin, (God, Clemency and Punishment)” at Congregation Sinai. American Music Festivals presented the “Sir George Solti Memorial Festival in Chicago” in 2016, which included music of Hungarian Jewish composers Leo Weiner and Emmerich Kalman.

Collaborating with Kol Zimrah Community Jewish Singers, the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra performed excerpts from Mendelssohn’s Elijah in 2017 at North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe. Featured soloist was with Cantor David Goldstein.

A driving force behind American Music Festivals’ success has been the efforts of Composer in Residence Ilya Levinson. A versatile musician, Mr. Levinson has distinguished himself through his original works and commitment to preserving Jewish heritage. His “Klezmer Rhapsody” was premiered by the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra at the Chicago Cultural Center in 1999 and later was performed at Chicao’s Symphony Center. Mr. Levinson’s orchestral work “Shtetl Scenes” was featured at American Music Festivals’ interfaith concert at the American Islamic College in Chicago in 2012. The LCO also premiered his inspirational work “If the Pictures Could Talk…”, which accompanied a Soviet World War II photographic exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. This concert by the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra also included music of Pavel Haas, who perished at Auschwitz.

The artistic contributions of Chicago’s Jewish community have made a huge impact in the development of American Music Festivals and have helped shape its musical offerings. Thankfully, this community places a priority on culture and the presentation of the fine arts. American Music Festivals looks forward to continuing its exploration of Jewish music and heritage by reaching out to the individuals and organizations that make up this vibrant community.