Virginia Holocaust Museum program
Yom HaShoah
Special Guest, Dr. James Grymes
James A. Grymes is an internationally respected musicologist, a critically acclaimed author, and a dynamic speaker who has addressed audiences at significant public venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Grymes has been featured in interviews by the New York Times, ABC News, and CNN, and has written essays for the Huffington Post and the Israeli music magazine Opus.
He is the author of Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour (Harper Perennial, 2014). A stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of music, Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, and of the Israeli violinmaker dedicated to bringing these inspirational instruments back to life. Violins of Hope won a National Jewish Book Award.
Dr. Grymes is Professor of Musicology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.