Israeli Music Celebration 2012

Start the year with music! The Israeli Music Celebration invites everyone to enjoy the talents of Israeli musicians and composers – FREE! The annual festival, now in its 15th year, will present concerts in Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Nazareth Illit and Beer Sheva, from September 19 – 23, 2012. This year, the festival is under the baton of a new Artistic Director, Dr. Boaz Ben-Moshe.

Mordechai Seter (1916 – 1994) has been selected “Composer of the Year,” and the opening concert in Jerusalem will feature his “Tikkun Hatzot,” a rhapsody on Yemenite themes, performed by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.

The Meitar Ensemble with soloists Amit Dolberg and Gabi Sadeh will open the festival, works performed will include compositions by Oded Zehavi and Yinam Leef. The festive concert “Ma’avarim,” will be performed by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra towards evening, and the soloist brothers Daniel and Alexander Gurfinkel (both currently “Musicians of Excellence” serving in the IDF) will play a concerto for two clarinets by Yusopov. The program will include a work by Yaron Gottfreid and the world premiere of “Bazriha” (at sunrise) by Menachem Zur.

Ben Moshe envisions a festival that celebrates the full range of Israeli music in all its diversity, and the program reflects this in its inclusion of different genres, emerging as well as eminent composers, and musicians of all ages. In Haifa, the afternoon program will include a jazz concert, followed by “The Song of Women” with the Hemiola Women’s Choir and performed by an all-women’s ensemble of four harps and a string quartet, featuring the work of composer  Tsippi Fleischer’s “Avram” – an oratorio portraying the birth of monotheism, and other Israeli composers. The evening program will feature works by the founding generation of Israeli composers – Setter’s “Cantata for Shabbat,” “Symphony No. 1” by Ben Haim, and  Marc Lavry’s “Emek,” alongside young composer  Lotem Asner’s “Prayer for Peace.”

This year, the festival will come to Nazareth for the first time, and the Nazareth Arab Music Orchestra will participate in the festival, performing in their home venue. The closing concert in Beer Sheva will host two of Israel’s international music ambassadors:  clarinetist Giora Feidman and  Yair Dallal on oud, who will perform works by Gil Aldema, Aryeh Levanon, Aviya Kopelman, and a work by Yair Dallal.

To view the full program, click here.

Admission to all concerts is FREE, but advanced registration is required, as these are very popular events, and space is limited. A select number of concerts will be broadcast on “Kol Hamusica.” Group orders: Roselia Hefetz productions 03-6961593.
Performances:
September 19 – from 16:00, Jerusalem Theatre, Jerusalem. To reserve places, call: 02-5605755.
September 20 – from 15:30, Rappaport Centre, Haifa. To reserve places, call: 04-8330625.
September 21 – from 11:00, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv. To reserve places, call: 03-6961593.
September 22 – 21:00, Berkovitz Community Centre, Nazareth Illit. To reserve places, call: 03-6961593.
September 23 – from 17:00, Performing Arts Centre, Beer Sheva. To reserve places, call: 08-6266422.
Israeli Music Celebration. Artistic Director: Dr. Boaz Ben-Moshe; Producer: Paul Landau – Israeli Music Institute; Line Producer: Rosalia Hefetz Productions.