A Generational Story of the Holocaust and of the Transformative Power of Music
A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of secrets kept, of personal discovery, and of the power of music to heal and to unite.
A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of personal discovery. As a child Janet is haunted by the eerie hush surrounding her parents’ experiences. George and Katherine, two professional musicians and Holocaust survivors, bury the memories of who and what they were before, silencing the past in order to live. Music is their lifeline.
After five decades of secrets, Janet finally unravels her Holocaust heritage when she stumbles upon a clue. After the war, George performed morale-boosting programs throughout Bavaria in a twenty-member orchestra of concentration camp survivors. Although Janet also becomes a cellist, her father never discloses that two of the programs, in 1948, were led by the legendary American maestro, Leonard Bernstein.
Janet’s father was more fortunate than others. When he was rounded up for hard labor, narrowly missing deportation to the death camps of Auschwitz, a music-loving Nazi guard gave him gloves to protect his cello-playing hands. Janet’s memoir of the Holocaust is deeply personal and illuminating. Through humor and colorful story-telling, she weaves her parents’ life into her own and captures the intensity of their life experiences. The lingering scars are healed through the sustenance and power of music, and their music-making unites people from generation to generation.
Review in the Jewish Book World
Janet Horvath is a lifelong performing classical musician, soloist, speaker, educator, and author. The Minnesota Orchestra’s associate principal cello from 1980 to 2012, she has appeared as soloist with orchestra, and in recital and chamber music throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has appeared on national radio and television, including the BBC, CBC, and NPR and on podcasts. A contributing writer for the online classical music e-magazine Interlude.HK, she has penned over 350 feature articles about music and musicians. Recent essays have appeared in national publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and international music publications Musical America, Chamber Music America, Strings Magazine, The Brass Herald and Strad Magazine.
The author of the award-winning book Playing (Less) Hurt—an Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians, she has worked with instrumentalists to establish a holistic approach to music making. A pioneer and authority in the area of the medical problems of performing artists, and a passionate arts advocate, Janet is well-known among both amateur and professional musicians, teachers and students, and health care providers. Her masterclasses and seminars have been well received by orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and at colleges, conservatories, and conferences from coast to coast. Through her writing and musical performances, Janet creates restorative conversations, offers spiritual sustenance, and explores music’s life-bringing and healing power.
In the age of fast-moving news, despite our best efforts, uncertainty and divisiveness prevail. Janet hopes to counteract the consequences of intolerance and endeavors to stimulate dialogue about inequality and the ramifications of racism.
Ms. Horvath earned her master’s degree in music performance from Indiana University and completed her MFA in creative writing at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Look for her classical music articles which appear at www.interlude.hk. More information can be found on her website www.janethorvath.com.
