'Anne Frank's Tree' grows in Sarasota

Many people are aware that Anne Frank’s words survived her death at the hands of the Nazis, but how many know that her spirit — and her beloved chestnut tree — live on in music?

On Thursday, March 20, the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota will present the Florida premiere of “Anne Frank’s Tree.” First composed for the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra by Victoria Bond, the work includes words from “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

As many schoolchildren have learned, Anne began writing her diary on her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942 while in hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. She continued to confide in an imaginary friend she called “Kitty” until August 1944, when her diary ends. Anne, who was Jewish, died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, presumably from the typhus epidemic that engulfed the camp.

After her death, Anne’s father, Otto Frank, had her diary published in 1947. Sprinkled between girlish observations are profound expressions of hope and courage that have made the diary must-reading. 

To date, more than 30 million copies of “The Diary of Anne Frank” have been sold and it has been translated into at least 70 languages. The diary has also inspired a movie and a play. 

In her diary, Anne brings to life the seven other people who hid in a secret annex behind a warehouse and the six people who helped them during captivity.

Perhaps the most famous quote of Anne’s, considering the circumstances under which she died, is “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

The quote from Anne’s diary that speaks to Robert Vodnoy, music director of the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota, is, “I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death!”

Vodnoy, a former professor of strings and music history at Northern State University in South Dakota who co-founded the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota in 2017, got the idea of presenting “Anne Frank’s Tree” in Sarasota from his friend Pieter Kohnstam.

A board member of the Anne Frank Foundation who knew Anne, Kohnstam is a member of the Jewish Congregation of Venice, where Vodnoy worships.

“I’ve known Pieter since we moved four or five years ago,” Vodnoy recalled in a telephone interview. “We were exploring ways we could work on a project. He was very encouraging.”

Kohnstam and his wife Susan were among the first sponsors to help fund the performance of “Anne Frank’s Tree.” They were joined by several other benefactors, including Judy and Lowell Seyburn, B. Aline Blanchard and Arthur Siciliano and Leigh and Harvey Cohen, to name just a few.

Other contributions came from The Exchange Foundation, Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee and the Raymund Foundation. The performance was also paid for in part by the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax.

One reason there has been so much interest lately in the chestnut tree that sustained Anne while she was in hiding was that it died in 2010 because of fungus and high winds. Before then, grafts were taken from the beloved tree and sent all around the world to grow saplings.

One of the places where an offspring of Anne Frank’s tree is thriving is the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. That sapling inspired the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra to commission Bond’s work, which premiered in January 2024.

The first woman awarded a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School in New York City, Bond is artistic director of the Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival. She has received commissions from the American Ballet Theater, Jacob’s Pillow and the Houston and Shanghai orchestras, among others. 

Bond first read “The Diary of Anne Frank” as a teenager, and it has stayed with her ever since. “I was struck by the important role the tree that grew outside Anne’s window played in her emotional life — it represented nature, beauty, freedom and hope,” she says.

On Feb. 23, 1944, Anne wrote in her diary, “Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs. From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind.”

In another entry, she asks, “As long as this exists, how can I be sad?”

The narrator in Bond’s composition “Anne Frank’s Tree” will be Alexa Scharf, a Booker High School senior.

“I auditioned for ‘Anne Frank’s Tree’ because it felt like a great chance to dive into a complex character and really challenge myself,” Alexa says. “The whole experience has been really rewarding. It’s pushed me both as an actor and as a person, helping me grow in ways I didn’t expect.”

Also on the Chamber Orchestra’s program for its March 20 concert are works by Erich Korngold and Felix Mendelssohn, both of whom were banned during the Third Reich.

Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor will feature violin virtuoso George Maxman, who completed his study in violin performance at the Moscow Conservatory. 

Maxman’s wide-ranging career has included such positions as Artist in Residence at the University of Sydney, concert violinist and teacher in Shanghai, and acting assistant concertmaster of the Houston Symphony.