Episode #52 - Music influences with Niv Ashkenazi & Avshi Weinstein - a podcast by Boker Tov

Niv Ashkenazi a virtuoso violinist that holds both a B.M and M.M from Julliard school has captivated audiences with his heartfelt musicianship and emotional performances in Europe, The Middle East and across North America.

He has made several Carnegie Hall and kennedy center appearance. His conviction that the impact of music serves people beyond the concert stage motivates him to collaborate with projects such as Street Symphony an LA based nonprofit that serves communities disenfranchised by homelessness and incarceration in LA County. His currently involve in the project of "Violins of hope" . In 2019-2020 season he is the first ever artist in residence at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian center. His debut album Niv Ashkenazi Violins of hope recorded at the Soraya was released on March 2020 on Albany Records. It is the first solo album recorded on one of the Violins of hope. It is available on Amazon Spotify and Apple podcast.

Avshi (Avshalom) Weinstein third generation Violin maker was trained by his father master violin maker Amnon Weinstein. He began working with his father in their Tel-Aviv atelier back in 1998 as violin-maker and restorer.He was invited to join the CAKA program in Turkey in 2006 and has been staying then since.He opened his own workshop in Istanbul in 2009 where he continues the family tradition.He has also been trained with Master Bow-Maker Daniel Schmidt from Dresden in bow repairs since 2009.

Avshalom is the founder of Violin of hope project together with his father.  Violin of hope refers to the Weinstein's collection of instruments with unique stories dating back to Jewish musical tradition and Wold War 2. Both father & son collect these instruments and restore them with love and attention and bring them back to life as a concert instruments.

Since 2006 Violins of hope were invited by leading orchestra and music festivals in Europe & America to play the music and tell the stories of the people behind the instruments that are not with us anymore.

In this episode we are telling the story behind The Violins of Hope.

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