In conjunction with the UT Downtown Gallery exhibition, Violins of Hope, the Ewing Gallery is pleased to coordinate a presentation by children book author Peter Aronson on the life of Violinist Bronislaw Huberman, the founder an orchestra in Palestine that went on to become the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. The presentation is scheduled for 3:30 pm Thursday, January 24th in the Lindsay Young Auditorium in Hodges Library.

Aronson, a New York author and attorney had begun his career as a professional journalist covering such national cases as OJ Simpson, Rodney King and Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 presidential election.

His journalistic instincts and background led to his writing of his first biography, Bronislaw Huberman: From Child Prodigy to Hero, the Violinist who saved Jewish Musicians from the Holocaust. Here, in his own words, he explains when he was first introduced to the Huberman story:

I came upon the Huberman story in approx. 2000, when my wife, Emily, and I were sitting in our seats at Carnegie Hall waiting for a concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to begin. I was reading the program, specifically how the orchestra was started by a man named Bronislaw Huberman. I turned to my wife and I said this is a great story – I am going to write about it.

The next day, I had lunch with my friend Uzi Shalev, a bassoonist with the orchestra (that’s why we were at Carnegie Hall – to see him play) and I asked Uzi if he would help me get access to information about the orchestra. He said yes.

Very long story short: I travelled to Israel, Germany and Toronto and researched the start of the orchestra and interviewed original members and their families (in those cities and in NY as well) … I spent almost five years researching the details of Huberman’s great effort. I then wrote a screenplay about the founding of the orchestra.

… and in 2018, I wrote the children’s book.

Since writing this book, he has retired as an attorney and focuses solely on writing books for children including a biography of Jeanette Rankin  the first woman elected to serve in the US Congress.