Book Release: The Cello Still Sings (Janet Horvath)

4278 Sheridan Avenue South,Minneapolis MN 55410

02 March, 2023

Description

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, a constant presence, offsets the disquiet. After five decades of secrets, one day forever transforms Janet’s life. She asks an innocent question and a clue is revealed, which leads Janet to uncovering the past and making sense of her fraught upbringing. Once the war ends, George and Katherine are united. While waiting for documents to leave Europe, George performs 200 morale-building programs throughout Bavaria in a seventeen-member Jewish orchestra, for survivors like himself, in the very country bent on destroying him. Two of the programs, in 1948, are with the legendary American maestro, Leonard Bernstein, who defiantly plays jazz—Rhapsody in Blue. When George and Katherine are able to leave the continent, like other refugees, they start life anew in a strange land. Music is their lifeline. Janet becomes a professional cellist performing for three decades in a symphony orchestra. Then she, too, is silenced. Determined to make a comeback, seventy years after her father brought succor to survivors, she takes the stage in Germany, as an honored guest, and plays for a commemorative and healing program in the very place her father performed with Leonard Bernstein. THE CELLO STILL SINGS is a true story of human resilience, of the lingering scars that infiltrate subsequent generations, and of music’s healing power. Pre-order The Cello Still Sings for in-store pickup at Comma, a bookshop. Pre-order The Cello Still Sings for nationwide shipping. About Janet A lifelong performing classical musician, as the associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1980-2012, Ms. Horvath is a writer, anti-racism spokesperson, and advocate for injury prevention for musicians. She has performed in recital, chamber music, and as soloist with orchestras throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, and has given masterclasses and seminars for orchestras and conservatories from coast to coast. She has appeared on CBC, BBC, and NPR radio stations, and PBS television and is a popular guest speaker, live and on podcasts, discussing cello playing, the importance of the arts and music in particular, injury prevention, and genocide prevention. The Cello Still Sings—A Generational Story of the Holocaust and of the Transformative Power of Music, her new book, is a vivid, moving, and true story of personal discovery, will be published February 28, presales have begun. Her first book Playing (less) Hurt – An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians received international critical acclaim, winning a gold IPPY award in 2009 and is still in print. Other publications include for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and numerous music magazines. She completed my Masters of Music degree from Indiana University and MFA in creative writing from Hamline University, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her popular classical music articles appear on www.interlude.hk