Together with two classic symphonies, including Mozart‘s G-minor Symphony, Richard Strauss’ late masterpiece ‹Metamorphoses› and a concert for the Arabic lute, the oud, will be performed. How does an Israeli orchestra play music written by Strauss, whose role in the Third Reich is still controversial and widely discussed, to mourn the bombing of Munich? And which political symbolism is transported by the concert of one of the most renowned Israeli composers in which an Arab Israeli plays the solo part?
The Israel Camerata Jerusalem was founded in 1985 by Avner Biron and is the leading chamber orchestra in Israel today. The Camerata's repertoire ranges from the baroque to contemporary music. In addition to a traditional repertoire, the Camerata is also involved in performances of unknown and newly discovered music of different periods as well as performing premieres of contemporary works and Israeli music.
Avner Biron is the founder and musical director of the Israel Camerata Jerusalem. He began his musical career as a flutist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Creativity, inventiveness and originality characterise his versatile musical activities. He has brought the orchestra to the highest standard in Israeli musical life and won worldwide recognition for his achievements. Avner Biron supports Israeli composers and works with students in Jerusalem and throughout Israel.
Menachem Wiesenberg, born in 1950, is a composer, pianist and educator and one of Israel’s most varied and acclaimed musicians. He is renowned for his arrangements of Israeli and Yiddish folk songs, and his interest in the folk music of his native land serves as a fundamental influence throughout all of his compositional activity. His work covers a wide range of styles in the classical field to light music and jazz.
Taiseer Elias was born in the Israeli Arab village of Shafram, and is regarded as the leading figure in classical Arab music in Israel. He studied ethnomusicology at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and founded the Orchestra of Classical Arab Music in Israel. As an oud player and violinist, he has played with the Ziryab Trio and the Israeli group Bustan Abraham, and is, among other things, head of the Eastern Music Department at the Jerusalem Music Academy.
