ACFNY SUPPORTED | THE CHILDREN OF WILLESDEN LANE
The ACFNY and the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations proudly support The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek – a story based on the life of Jewish-Austrian Lisa Jura.
Based on her bestselling book, the renowned concert pianist Mona Golabek tells the gripping, true story of her mother, Lisa Jura – who held on to her music and her dreams to survive one of the darkest periods in history. With more relevance today than ever, this inspiring story of a young refugee, one of nearly 10,000 children who escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe on the Kindertransport, has been called “an undiluted privilege to witness” by the Los Angeles Times; a “stirring case of art preserving life” by the Chicago Tribune; and “deeply affecting” by the New York Times.
This performance caps Mona’s performances for 10,000 New York City schoolchildren. Each of the children attending these performances has studied her book and come to Town Hall and Martin Luther King, Jr. High School to hear Mona’s story of hope and courage. This project is a unique partnership between The Town Hall, Facing History and Ourselves and the New York Department of Education with funding from Nancy Fisher, Patti Kenner, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, with additional support from Charlotte Frank, Marvin Leffler, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, and the Hold On To Your Music Foundation.
In the last five years, tens of thousands of Willesden Lane books have been gifted to school districts across the country. Through classroom study and live performances by Mona Golabek, over 200,000 schoolchildren have been inspired, entertained and educated about a world and an era many had never known existed. We are delighted to invite you to this special performance with all proceeds going to benefit the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and The Town Hall Foundation. Mona’s appearance is made possible by Hold On To Your Music Foundation.
In the same week, as part of this project, Mona Golabek is also visiting the Martin Luther King High School in New York City and the United Nations Educational Multimedia Programme to perform The Children of Willesden Lane.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mona Golabek is the founder and president of the non-profit organization Hold On To Your Music. She is an author, recording artist, radio host and internationally acclaimed concert pianist. Mona Golabek was taught by her mother, Lisa Jura, who, along with Lisa’s mother Malka, is the subject of Mona Golabek’s book The Children Of Willesden Lane. The work of Mona Golabek and her sister, the late concert pianist Renee Golabek-Kaye, has been inspired by the words their grandmother uttered to her daughter at the Vienna train station as Lisa boarded the Kindertransport for safety in London at the outset of World War II. “Hold on to your music,” Malka told her, “It will be your best friend.”
A Grammy nominee, Mona Golabek has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the People’s Award of the International Chopin Competition. She has been the subject of several PBS television documentaries, including More Than the Music, which won the grand prize in the 1985 Houston Film Festival, and Concerto for Mona, featuring Ms. Golabek and conductor Zubin Mehta. She has appeared in concert at the Hollywood Bowl, the Kennedy Center, Royal Festival Hall and with major orchestras and conductors worldwide.
Mona Golabek is the creator and voice of The Romantic Hours radio program, which combines classical music with readings of poetry, letters, and stories and has been syndicated on the WFMT Radio Network and XM Satellite Radio.
Golabek’s recordings include the best-selling Carnival of the Animals featuring the voices of Audrey Hepburn, Ted Danson, Lily Tomlin and others; Ravel’s Mother Goose featuring Meryl Streep; and the Piano Trios of Arensky and Tchaikowsky, recorded in collaboration with Renee Golabek-Kaye and including the Poulenc Double Piano Concerto.
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VENUE
New York Town Hall
123 W 43rd St, New York, NY 10036