the violin conspiracy a novel by brendan slocumb

As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself-and the world-that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself.

But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition-the Olympics of classical music-the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. But Ray has a gift and a dream-he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. Delaney, who was white, often drew on the musical styles of Indigenous peoples, and the opera Hendricks is scoring is different from the version that premiered to surprisingly bad reviews a century earlier.The riveting story of a young Black musician who discovers that his old family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius: when it’s stolen on the eve of the world’s most prestigious classical music competition, he risks everything to get it back. But before long, Hendricks and Eboni Washington, a cybersecurity expert, begin to have their suspicions about the origin of the composition as well as most of Delaney’s other works. Hendricks is thrilled when he’s hired by the Delaney Foundation to create a new score based on the manuscript. GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK Ray McMillian is a Black. What Hendricks unearths is related to the discovery of a musical masterpiece, missing for 100 years, attributed to Frederick Delaney, a prolific 20th-century composer. Read The Violin Conspiracy A Novel by Brendan Slocumb available from Rakuten Kobo.

Slocumb, an educator and musician, spun a page-turning thriller about a stolen Stradivarius violin in “The Violin Conspiracy.” Theft also plays a key role in this new novel, as Bern Hendricks, a professor at the University of Virginia, stumbles onto one of the biggest deceptions in music history. “Whitewashing” history plays a significant role in Brendan Slocumb’s stirring second novel, “Symphony of Secrets.” It’s a provocative follow-up to his much-lauded 2022 novel, “The Violin Conspiracy,” praised for its pitch-perfect dive into the world of classical music and the struggles faced by Black musicians who want to be included and respected for their talents. (Courtesy of Penguin Random House/TNS)ĭeciding who has the right to tell America’s story is a hot topic these days, as people on the right and left debate how much of our history omits the contributions of people of color, and what, if anything, should be done about it.

Front cover of 'Symphony of Secrets' by Brendan Slocumb.

The violin conspiracy a novel by brendan slocumb