Violins of Hope SC slate of speakers. Upon request, each may be scheduled to share their eloquent Israel and Holocaust-era stories. Our goal is to educate, inspire, and unite audiences across South Carolina through the transformative power of music and the arts to proclaim, “Never Again.”
Violins of Hope South Carolina Speakers
Avshalom (Avshi) Weinstein
Luthier/Educator
Co-Founder, Violins of Hope
Tel Aviv, Israel
Avshi travels worldwide to educate others with the restored violins and stories of Jewish musicians forced to play their prized instruments while Nazis murdered their friends and families in the death camps.
www.violins-of-hope.com
Rev. Chris Edmonds
Author
CEO-Roddie’s Code
Maryville, Tennessee
No Surrender: A Father, a Son, and an Extraordinary Act of Heroism That Continues to Live on Today Yad Vashem has honored Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds as
“Righteous Among the Nations.”
www.nosurrenderbook.com.
Dr. James A. Grymes
Author
Professor of Musicology-University of North Carolina Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour. National Jewish Book Awards Winner.
www.jamesagrymes.com
Shelley Neese
Author
The Copper Scroll Project & The Auschwitz Album Revisited
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Lived in Israel 2000-2004, conversant in Modern Hebrew, and received an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
https://thejerusalemconnection.us/auschwitz-album-revisited/
A. Todd Smith
A. Todd Smith, Sculptor
Chair, Department of Studio & Digital Arts, SCA
Director, Liberty University Art Gallery, Studio Art, Graphic Design
Todd Smith serves as the founding Chair of the Department of Studio & Digital Arts as well as the founding Director of the Liberty University Art Gallery and Permanent Art Collection. He has been involved in research and creative activities with emerging technology and new media on the local, regional and national level.
Arlene Bridges Samuels
Author/Columnist
Atlanta, Georgia
Weekly columnist-The Christian Broadcasting Network, Author-The Blogs, Times of Israel Ten Ways You Can Pray for Israel, Stop the Boycott and Passover and Easter: A Divine Connection. Previously staff at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and International Christian Embassy Jerusalem’s American Christian Leaders for Israel.
Susanne Reyto
Author
Pursuit of Freedom and Destination Freedom:
Escape from Tyranny
Beverly Hills, California
A child survivor of the Holocaust, then growing up under Communism, Susanne Reyto shares her childhood as an inspiration for children to learn strength, bravery, perseverance, and endurance.
https://destinationfreedom.net.