Amnon Weinstein CV
Internationally Israeli Master Violin-maker Amnon Weinstein is involved in initiating and promoting concerts and educational projects concerning violins around the world. He works with orchestras and artists both in Israel and abroad.
He received the Medal of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, signed by the president and handed to him by Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a ceremony held in the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Dec. 14th 2016.
He also received the Ernst-Cramer-Medal for Violins of Hope project awarded him by the Israel-German association (Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschhaft e.V.)
Weinstein, a viola and trumpet player, first learned his violin-making craft in childhood with his father. He studied for three years in Cremona, Italy, with the most known teachers in that era such as Pietro Sgarabotto, Giuseppe Ornati and Ferdinando Garimberti. He also studied in Paris with known Etienne Vatelot.
He won a gold medal and a certificate of excellence for violin-sound at Salt Lake City in 1982; he is a member of Entente International des Maitre Luthiers et Archetiers d’Art; a member Bienfaiteur de Groupement des Luthiers et Archetiers d’Art de France; and was a member of the Violin Society of America. He served as a judge in the violin-makers' competition in Salt-Lake City in 1998; served as a judge in the Etienne Vatelot Concours, Paris 2004. He was awarded the prestigious Ole Bull prize, Bergen, Norway, 2007. As one of the founders of Keshet Eilon violin master courses, he operated a violin-making atelier and lectured on instruments' history, construction and care.
Born in Palestine, 1939, to a violinist and pianist from Vilna, a second generation violin-maker, Amnon works to this day in Tel Aviv with his son, Avshalom. He is involved in many musical projects such as Violins of Hope, dedicated to the collection and reconstruction of violins which were owned by Jews and survived World War 2. Many of the instruments which belonged to klezmers are decorated with the Star of David and others were owned by violinists who played during the war (in concentration camps and ghettos).
Violins of Hope collection now consists of over 60 instruments, each with a story and history. The instruments were used in concerts held in Jerusalem, Istanbul, Paris, London, Sion (Switzerland), Charlotte, North Carolina and Cleveland, US, where they were exhibited and played in synagogues, churches, universities and symphony concert halls (April 2012).
In the past few years Violins of Hope projects, including concerts (and often exhibitions) were held in Monte Carlo (2013); Rome (2014); Cristal Nacht concerts in Germany (November 2014); gala concert and exhibition in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to commemorate 70 years to the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp and the international holocaust day; Gala and educational concerts in Cleveland, US; also a segment in CBS channel (national TV broadcast) on December 6, 2015.
Amnon Weinstein is the protagonist of a few documentary films: Le Voyage d' Amnon; Violins in War Time; and a documentary about Bronislav Hubermann and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Orchestra in Exile.