Ashes to Light: A Holocaust Childhood to a Life in Music

(Paperback)

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Born into a Jewish family in Lvov, Poland in the early-1930s, Nelly Ben-Or was to experience, at a very young age, the trauma of the Holocaust. This narrative of her life's journey describes the survival of Nelly, her mother and her older sister. With help from family and friends, Nelly and her mother were smuggled out of the Ghetto in Lvov and escaped to Warsaw with false identity papers where they were under constant threat of discovery. Miraculously, they survived being taken on a train to Auschwitz, deported not, in fact, because they were Jews, but as citizens of Warsaw following the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis. After the end of the war, Nelly's musical talent was free to flourish, at first in Poland and then in the recently-created State of Israel, where Nelly completed her musical studies as a scholarship student at the Music Academy in Jerusalem. Following her move to England she carried out a full concert career and also discovered the Alexander Technique for piano playing, which had a profound influence on her. Today Nelly Ben-Or is internationally regarded as the leading exponent of the application of principles of the Alexander Technique - she teaches in the keyboard department of London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, runs Alexander Technique masterclasses and regularly gives talks about her Holocaust experience. This unique memoir is testimony to an extraordinary life and illustrates the strength of the human condition when faced with adversity.

Reviews

An extraordinary biography of an extraordinary life ... the book is beautifully written, relating the various horrors and adventures clearly, simply, intelligently and with great compassion for all the actors in this terrible drama ... I thoroughly recommend this truly outstanding book of a truly uplifting life. * Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique *
Nelly Ben-Or offers her own life experiences in this unique memoir which is testimony to an extraordinary life and illustrates the strength of the human condition when faced with adversity ... A most moving tale which should be read by people from all walks of life, and especially pianists. * Piano Journal *

Author Bio

Nelly Ben-Or MBE is a distinguished pianist and piano teacher. Born in Poland, she survived the Holocaust and now lives in London. She teaches in the keyboard department at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has broadcast frequent recitals for the BBC, performed at major concert venues in the UK and in many countries overseas. In 1963 she qualified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique - the first professional pianist to do so. She is now internationally-recognised as a leading exponent of the technique. She regularly gives masterclasses at music conservatoires, universities and at her own twice-yearly international courses in London. She regularly gives talks about her Holocaust experience, especially around Holocaust Memorial Day.