ROME – In a poignant performance held at a Milan prison on Saturday, musical instruments crafted from the remains of boats used by migrants to reach Italy resonated with stories of hope and transformation. These instruments were played for the very inmates who had fashioned them.

Under the baton of the esteemed Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, the Cherubini Youth Orchestra performed using violins, violas, and cellos, each marked by the distinct faded hues of blue, green, and yellow, signifying the reclaimed wood’s seafaring origins.

“These instruments are born from the tragic wood of boats that carried souls seeking refuge and democracy,” Muti shared with an audience of prisoners and invited guests at Italy’s largest correctional facility, Opera prison.

The artisans behind these distinctive creations are part of an initiative known as Metamorphosis, which aims to convert what might be discarded into instruments of societal value. This project transforms decayed wood into exquisite musical instruments and prisoners into skilled craftsmen, embodying the essence of rehabilitation.

Reflecting on the experience, Muti remarked, “Listening to these individuals—serving their sentences yet displaying such calmness and a clear, open desire to find harmony through music—has profoundly enriched my journey as both a musician and a human being.”

The Opera prison on Milan’s southern edge has over 1,400 inmates, including 101 mafiosi held under a strict regime of near-total isolation.

The boats arrived at Opera after being seized, some still containing remnants of the migrants’ belongings, and with them a reminder of the tens of thousands of migrants that the U.N. says have died or gone missing on the perilous central Mediterranean crossing between Africa and Europe since 2014.

On Saturday the orchestra performed pieces from Italian composers Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Verdi and a chorus with singers from another Milan prison, San Vittore, joined for a rendition of “Va’ Pensiero,” also known as “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves,” from Verdi’s masterpiece “Nabucco.”