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When Janet Horvath asked her father an innocent question about his music career while driving him to a doctor’s appointment in 2009, she did not expect to uncover a hidden piece of her family’s history. Horvath, the associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra for 32 years, grew up surrounded by music. Her mother was a piano teacher and her father, George, was a cellist who had performed with the Toronto Symphony for 38 years. Despite George’s performances with famous maestros in Europe before World War II, Horvath’s parents never spoke about any of their experiences during the war. But that day in the car, it occurred to Horvath to ask her father if he’d ever met her idol, Leonard Bernstein, who was the composer of West Side Story, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and a significant figure in the classical music world.

“My father put his hand to his cheek… and it was like he passed out. I didn’t know what was going on,” said Horvath. “In a minute or two it was as if he came to, and he said, ‘Yes, it was a very hot day. The concert was in the displaced persons camp in Bavaria, Germany, and he [Bernstein] came to conduct our small group of musicians. He was just a kid and he played Rhapsody in Blue on the piano.”

Scientists have now discovered that trauma can be inherited through our genes, even for descendents who did not have those experiences first-hand — like the children of Holocaust survivors. “I grew up with a lot of idiosyncrasies which started to make sense for me — not only my own idiosyncrasies, but how my parents behaved and how that affected my life growing up,” said Horvath. “I think it’s critical for people to know that for those of us whose parents suffered through famine or war or other traumas, it can be passed on to the next generations.”

On May 1, Horvath visits St. Catherine University to discuss her book with the community as part of the Goodman Lecture series. For Horvath, this is a milestone lecture. Not only will it be her 75th presentation discussing The Cello Still Sings, but it’s also her return to St. Kate’s, where The O’Shaughnessy has served as a Minnesota Orchestra performance venue over the decades. As a woman who succeeded in the difficult field of professional orchestral musicianship and solo performance, she’s excited to reach other women at the University, she says.

In addition to exploring her family history, Horvath’s book and presentation center around questions about the refugee experience and what it means to adapt to and survive hardship.

“I thought, ‘You know, nobody knows about my father’s story, about how survivors put their lives back together afterwards,’” said Horvath. “‘This is important to unearth because we still have refugees, and we still have people that have given up everything to start over in a new culture, a new country, with a new language and new foods, and where indeed everything is strange. How did they do that? How did they cope?’”

For Horvath, her book is a way to share with audiences an important message about empathy and reconciliation — a piece of history that has continued to impact Holocaust survivors and their descendants. She hopes that her lecture will shed light on and encourage empathy toward the enduring struggles that refugees continue to face worldwide.

Horvath cites the example of her father, who survived incredible hardships through courage and perseverance. He put his life back together by continuing to play the cello, bringing people together through music — just as he would later teach her to do.

Founded by Arthur and Constance Goodman in 1979, the Goodman Lecture promotes interfaith dialogue between Jewish and Christian communities. St. Catherine University is extremely grateful for the Goodmans’ generosity and the continued support of their daughters Mary Ann Goodman Reilly ’61 and Stephanie Goodman ’83, both St. Kate’s graduates.

Images provided.