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When Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, he envisions this “Violin Man” as the topic of his next column for the Los Angeles Times—only to unearth an even more extraordinary story about the mysterious street musician. From an impromptu concert of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony in the Second Street tunnel to a performance of Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites on Skid Row, the two men learn to communicate through Ayers’ music. And though it’s Ayers he initially sets out to save, Lopez finds that his own life is profoundly changed.

Part of the One Book, One Philadelphia Program