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Violinist enters maximum security prison - receives standing ovation from spellbound inmates
Music is so powerful.
Ashley Fike
02.18.20

When most people think of a performance by a master violinist, many would picture a gorgeous concert hall with tiered balconies. However, this touching performance took place in a very different setting – it was a prison.

Master Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer played gorgeous renditions of Preludes to a Lost Time by Weinberg and Chaconne by Bach on his 379-year-old Amati violin. When he finished his last, perfectly-pitched note, a gymnasium full of inmates erupted in a standing ovation.

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The inmates that Kremer had just performed for in British Columbia were incarcerated for crimes ranging from burglary to murder.

“I have to say that in some ways they were more attentive or more enthusiastic compared to some concert audiences,” 72-year-old Kremer told CBC news.

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It’s not every day that a world-renowned violinist performs at a prison instead of a concert hall. This time, the performance was organized for the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford by the Looking at the Stars Foundation. The Toronto-based organization helps put on classical music performances for people who might not have the access or opportunity to see concerts at traditional theaters.

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The organization was started by Lithuanian refugee, Dimitri Kanovich, in 2019.

In their short years of operation, they’ve already performed 37 concerts in 15 Canadian prisons.

On the day of the performance, the prisoners received a personal greeting from the violinist as they walked in the door of the gymnasium. Drug-sniffing dogs and security guards were all around – creating a surreal environment.

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All of the inmates were completely mesmerized and spellbound for the entire hour-long performance. “The orchestra was a production partner for the prison concert and is soon to work with Corrections Canada to create a program that allows inmates access to instruments that they formerly played and would like to play again,” according to Good News Network.

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After the performance, the prisoners were given a Q&A session with the maestro – asking about his violin, his favorite composers, and how old he was when he first started playing the violin.

The biggest takeaway for the inmates, however, was the gratitude that the felt from the gorgeous musical performance. They were all so grateful to have watched such a talented musician play one of the most complicated pieces of music in history.

“I think music is something that can give warmth to everyone in trouble, in prison or not in prison,” said the master violinist. “I’m happy to have been here.”

This wasn’t the first time that classical music has been introduced to inmate programs.

In 2015, USC Thornton student Evan Pensis, a senior in the Keyboard Studies department, performed two recitals for around 300 inmates at an Arizona State Prison in Florence.

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“One of my passions is taking classical music to audiences that wouldn’t typically be able to have it or experience it,” Pensis said. “I firmly believe that a lot of the things that I love about music in terms of emotional communication or processing, even, deserve to be shared with everyone, not just those who can afford a symphony hall ticket.”

Pensis performed gorgeous pieces from Beethoven, Chopin, and more. The inmates reached out to him afterward, with the same kind of emotion and gratitude that Kremer received.

“Some of he responses that I got were the most powerful things anyone has ever said to me,” he recalled. “There was one man who said that, in the 27 years that he’d been incarcerated, that was the first time he forgot where he was.”

There’s no doubt that music is powerful and music is the universal language. Watch more about Kremer’s performance in Canada in the video below.

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