Hold On To Your Music Mission, Goals and Initiatives

About Hold On To Your Music || About Mona Golabek, Founder and President

Inspired by the life of Lisa Jura, Hold On To Your Music seeks to expand awareness and understanding of the ethical implications of world events such as the Holocaust, and the power of the arts, especially music, to embolden the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Hold On To Your Music was established in 2003 by Mona Golabek to share the story of her mother, Lisa Jura, as told in Ms. Golabek’s book, The Children of Willesden Lane, and to disseminate the book and accompanying educational materials to students and teachers everywhere.

Board

Mona Golabek
President, Co-Chair
Dr. Jane Foley, Co-Chair
Jackie Maduff
Secretary, Treasurer
Wallis Annenberg
Metuka Benjamin
Richard Burkhart
Jeff Glassman
Steven Koltai
Larry Post

Supporters

The Hold On To Your Music Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the following:

Wallis Annenberg
Severyn Ashkenazy
Bel Air Investment Advisors
Michaela Bercu and
Ron Zuckerman
J.B. Berland Foundation
Dr. Ilene Block
Robin Rosenzweig Broidy
Joyce Chernick
Linda Duno
Pat and Jerry Epstein
First Republic Bank
Sam Freshman
M. and L. Frieze
David and Judith Ganz
Diane and Guilford Glazer
The Rosalinde and Arthur
Gilbert Foundation
Joel and Frida Glucoft
Jona Goldrich
HSBC Bank USA
Marcia Israel Foundation
Karen McCarthy Krasney
Sharon Lebon
Frederick Leeds
David Levine
David and Dorothy Levinson
Miriam Lewin
Milken Family Foundation
Lowell Milken
Fred and Joyce Moss
Herbert Nadel
Younes Nazarian
Paris Nourafchan
NSBN LLP
Yoav Peled
Lawrence and Sandy Post
Rodney Scully
Glenn Schaeffer
Nathan Shapell
Robert and Sally Solomon
Sam Solomon
Max Webb
Wells Fargo Foundation

Mona Golabek

Sponsor a city-wide read and concert with Mona Golabek in your community.

Your support will help
inspire and educate.

In 1938, 14-year-old Lisa Jura was a musical prodigy in Vienna who hoped to become a concert pianist. Her dreams were interrupted when Hitler’s armies advanced. Her parents were forced to make the difficult decision to secure safe passage to London aboard the Kindertransport for only one of their three daughters. They chose to send Lisa, believing her talent would give her strength and could help reunite them one day. There, in a hostel on Willesden Lane, Lisa’s music became a beacon of hope for her, as well as other displaced children who would cheer her on as she fought to realize her musical dreams. Our name is derived from the words spoken to Lisa by her mother as she boarded the Kindertransport: “Hold on to your music. It will be your best friend.”

Visit our Education page to view classroom videos and to download the Teacher’s Resource and Musical Selections.

“Lisa Jura inspired me to dream the impossible dream and never give up when you think all is lost. This book teaches people to use the gifts God gave them to inspire others.”
Amanda Herl
Hoxie High School, Kansas

Recognizing the significance of this historic and heroic story and its potential to impact today’s students with its message of triumph in the face of evil, Milken Family Foundation began a partnership with Hold On To Your Music shortly after the publication of The Children of Willesden Lane. Milken in turn commissioned the non-profit organization Facing History and Ourselves to co-develop a study guide, A Teacher’s Resource to The Children of Willesden Lane, to support the book’s use in classrooms. The book’s educational components and the Hold On To Your Music mission were supported by The Annenberg Foundation, which provided a major grant and created a suite of video resource materials to complement the Teacher’s Resource.

Hold On To Your Music’s educational goals include:

•	Provide copies of the book to classrooms and libraries across the nation with an eye toward making it a timeless classic for young people;
•	Spread the themes inherent in the Hold On To Your Music mission through the book’s city-wide reads, district and state curriculum adoptions, project for television, live theatre production, and web site;
•	Foster projects that promote our mission.

Hold On To Your Music has developed a book-gifting program to provide copies of The Children of Willesden Lane at reduced rates for classrooms, libraries, and communities around the country. Examples of this initiative include:

•	Over 50,000 books to 110 schools in 28 states;
•	One City/One Book programs in Canton, Ohio and in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In Scranton, Ms. Golabek performed for 4800 students and adults who had read and studied her book;
	The Indiana Department of Education and the Idaho Department of Education have adopted the book at the state level;
	School Districts in Canton Ohio, South Bend, Clarksburg, West Virginia, Carson City, Nevada, among others, have adopted the book;
•	The University of Texas at Austin has adopted the book;
•	Ms. Golabek has performed for over 2,000 middle school students in Memphis, TN, followed by a question and answer time;
•	Facing History and Ourselves coordinated Ms. Golabek’s performance in Boston’s Schubert Theatre for an audience of approximately 800 students and parents, followed by questions and answers.