A group of musicians, including teenagers and adults, poses with various musical instruments such as violins, cellos, and a clarinet near a Steinway & Sons piano. They are dressed in formal black attire, standing, and sitting on stage.

News

  • Book Launch Performance

    A Steinway artist performs a one-act musical play, recreating the unyielding sound of a mother's piano amidst applause and tears.

    CCTV.com | October 17, 2025

    On the evening of October 15, 2025, the Austrian Embassy in China held a book launch in Beijing for the Chinese edition of The Pianist of Willesden Lane, written by internationally renowned pianist, Steinway Artist, and author Mona Golabek.

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  • Tree of Life Book Launch

    The new book launch and one-act play performance of "The Pianist of Willesden Lane" was held in Beijing

    Tree of Life News Express | October 16, 2025

    On the evening of October 15, 2025, the Chinese version of "The Pianist of Willesden Lane" new book launch and one-act play performance, hosted by the Austrian Embassy in China, was held in the Crane Hall of the Beijing International Club, attracting more than 100 people from the cultural and art circles, readers and other guests from all walks of life to participate.

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  • The Children Of Willesden Lane - China Book Cover

    "The Pianist of Willesden Lane": A Jewish girl fights war with music

    China Women’s News | August 31, 2025

    Young readers, do you love music? Are you moved by beautiful piano music? Do you want to learn about the childhood of a pianist? "The Pianist of Willesden Lane," published by Beijing United Publishing Company, is set during World War II and tells the story of a girl who persevered through the flames of war, clinging to her musical dream and persevering through it.

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  • A woman in a black dress standing on stage near a piano, with a bouquet of flowers on the piano bench, in front of a full audience in an auditorium.

    Foundation Spreads Hope Through Holocaust Survivor’s Story

    Interfaith America | January 27, 2025 | Rachel Crowe

    This Monday, Jan. 27 marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, designated by the United Nations General Assembly as a day of commemoration for the six million Jews who were killed in the atrocities of the Holocaust. 

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  • Woman on stage in a concert hall with a grand piano, giving a thumbs up to a seated audience.

    The gift of music: A mother’s message to her daughter fleeing the Holocaust

    Jerusalem Post | JUNE 22, 2024 | BARRY DAVIS

    Mona Golabek is a woman on a mission. 

    The word she has been spreading through her music and her mother’s life story for the past two-plus decades is of a decidedly uplifting, emotive, and inspiring nature. 

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  • A woman passionately playing a grand piano in a church setting, while a seated man observes. The church has stained glass windows and wooden pews.

    In the echoes of history, a story of humanity, hope

    BOSTON GLOBE | April 3, 2022 | Thomas Farragher

    ‘Follow your dreams. Be someone who stands up for what’s right in life.’ As published in The Boston Globe  The archbishop of Boston sits serenely and wordlessly beneath the soaring arches of the grand and nearly empty puddingstone church in the South End. His hands are folded quietly in his lap as Mona Golabek’s fingers fly across the black-and-white keyboard inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

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  • Three books titled 'The Children of Willesden Lane,' 'Lisa of Willesden Lane,' and 'Hold On to Your Music' are displayed on a newspaper background.

    Concert Pianist Mona Golabek Brings Mother’s Story to Generation of Young Readers

    USC Shoah Foundation | January 13, 2021

    Two new books published today capture the extraordinary story of Lisa Jura, an Austrian Jewish refugee who survived the Holocaust and then pursued her dream to become a concert pianist.  

    Hold on To Your Music and Lisa of Willesden Lane are authored by Jura’s daughter Mona Golabek, herself a virtuoso concert pianist and radio host.

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  • Five people standing in a library, smiling, with bookshelves in the background; two women, one wearing a plaid jacket, the other in a scarf, and three teenagers, one in a hijab, one in a blue shirt, and a boy in a gray sweater.

    Making a New Life: the Courage of a Refugee – Virtual Field Trip on Discovery Education

    (Grades 3-9) Join us for a Virtual Field Trip that will dive into the history and legacy of the Kindertransport and explore with students what it means to be a refugee. Hear how refugees adjust to their new homes and cultures and celebrate the strength people can have in times of great change.

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  • Concert pianist takes a bow on stage next to a grand piano, with a bouquet of flowers on the bench and an audience in the background.

    USC Shoah Foundation Partners with Hold On To Your Music to Create Groundbreaking Resources in Holocaust Education with $10 Million Koret Foundation Grant

    USC Shoah Foundation | February 26, 2020

    USC Shoah Foundation —The Institute for Visual History and Education (USC Shoah Foundation) today announced a $10 million grant from the Koret Foundation to develop and implement a new global holocaust educational curriculum in partnership with Hold On To Your Music Foundation (Hold On To Your Music).

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  • Silhouetted figure holding a suitcase in a dark environment with a spotlight and a woman looking to the side prominently in the foreground.

    TheatreWorks’ ‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’: A one-woman musical celebration of humanity

    Standford Daily | January 23, 2020 | Anupriya Dwivedi

    “I feel I need another day or two to simply process the excellence and the intensely personal story I’ve just been told,” confided the lady I had befriended at the post show reception at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. I shared the sentiment. I am sure Mona Golabek, the triumphant star of the show, heard the applause that greeted her at the end of the opening night of “The Pianist of Willesden Lane.”

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  • Group of students sitting together, some reading "The Children of Willesden Lane."

    Teaching the Holocaust Is More Important Than Ever

    Milken Educator Awards | October 7, 2020

    Through “The Children of Willesden Lane,” students learn important lessons about survival and resilience.

    Two recent studies show that the need for educational programs about the Holocaust has never been greater.

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