ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Concert goers in the Bay area are about to get to hear a little bit of history in the form of music.

But this isn’t just any kind of music. This is music being played at the concert, Violins of Hope, and will be performed by members of The Florida Orchestra. They will be using instruments that were once owned by people in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

What You Need To Know

  • Violins of Hope is an international project that honors the lives lost and affected by the Holocaust through music

  • The concert is made up of a collection of 70 Holocaust-era string instruments — violins, violas and cellos — that once belonged to Jewish musicians before and during World War II

  • The instruments in the concert have traveled around the world to several countries for performances

  • View information on tickets for Violins of Hope

It’s an opportunity that Florida Orchestra Cellist Yoni Draiblate said he was excited to be a part of.

“There’s so many layers of emotional and historical connection,” he said. “With me particularly coming from Israel, my grandparents are Holocaust survivors.”

This week, he gets to tell another story for the Violins of Hope concert. “The Nazis tried so hard to use music to humiliate Jews, specifically the violin. They used the violin to humiliate the Jews. So, having myself and seven other wonderful colleagues from The Florida Orchestra play on stage and play these instruments is a big fist in the air to the Nazis,” he said.

It’s an opportunity Draiblate first learned about from one of his lifelong friends back home in Israel.

“Avshi Weinstein, which started the project together with his late father. I used to go to his shop in Tel Aviv to adjust my cello since I was about this high,” he said.

Avshalom Avshi Weinstein collects and repairs instruments donated by Holocaust survivors and their families.

“We have instruments which were played in ghettos, instruments which were played in concentration camps, instruments which were played by non-Jews who helped save Jewish people,” he said.

Weinstein worked with his late father on the restoration process and his cousin, Brendon Rennert, helped to bring the Violins of Hope show to life in St. Pete.

“It continues to tell a story of what happened albeit through music which is everybody understands the music. Not everybody understands the language, but they understand the music,” said Rennert.

It’s a message Draiblate said he wants everyone to hear. “I think the audience will definitely leave that night at the very least emotionally changed, if not, forever changed,” he said.

Forever changed by the kind of music that has the healing power and ability to bring everyone together.

The Violins of Hope show is Thursday, March 20, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Palladium Theater in downtown St. Petersburg.

View information on tickets for Violins of Hope. The fee is $32 for members of The Florida Holocaust Museum and/or The Florida Orchestra, and $40 for all other attendees.