The Cello Still Sings: Author and Cellist Janet Horvath Discusses her Latest Book and how she Unearthed Family Secrets

A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of personal discovery. 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 is their lifeline.

After five decades of secrets, Janet finally unravels her Holocaust heritage when she stumbles upon a clue. After the war, George performed 200 morale-boosting programs in Displaced Persons Camps throughout Bavaria in a twenty-member orchestra of concentration camp survivors. Although Janet also becomes a cellist, her father never discloses that two of the programs, in 1948, were led by the legendary American maestro, Leonard Bernstein.

Janet Horvath, the associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1980-2012, is a soloist, writer, anti-racism spokesperson, and an advocate for injury prevention for musicians. She has performed in recital and as soloist internationally, and has given seminars for colleges, conservatories, and to organizations from coast to coast. Her new book The Cello Still Sings – A Generational Story of the Holocaust and of the Transformative Power of Music was released February 28, 2023. Janet’s award-winning first book Playing (less) Hurt – An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians has received international critical acclaim, and her numerous magazine and newspaper publications include articles in The Atlantic and The New York Times. Ms. Horvath completed her MFA in creative writing from Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, and her MMus from Indiana University.

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