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This is Play It Forward. Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward Episode 427 with Brendan Slocomb Author of The Violin Conspiracy
Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional musician. Not his mother, who thinks he should get a real job, not the fact that he can\u2019t afford a high-caliber violin, not the racism inherent in the classical music world. And when he makes the startling discovery that his great-grandfather\u2019s fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, his star begins to rise. Then with the international Tchaikovsky Competition\u2014the Olympics of classical music\u2014 fast approaching, his prized family heirloom is stolen. Ray is determined to get it back. But now his family and the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray\u2019s great-grandfather are each claiming that the violin belongs to them. With the odds stacked against him and the pressure mounting, will Ray ever see his beloved violin again?Even accomplished Hollywood figures are flummoxed by the accomplishment: As the director Steven Soderbergh has said, \u201cI don\u2019t understand how they\u2019re not still shooting that film, and I don\u2019t understand how hundreds of people aren\u2019t dead.\u201d