Tag Archives: israel

Orchestra News

The Philadelphia Orchestra to Tour Europe and Israel

This spring, May 24 through June 5, The Philadelphia Orchestra will tour Europe and Israel. The visit to Israel is part of a new partnership between the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the orchestra, designed to engage new members of the Philadelphia community. It will include a special Israeli tour and mission. The only major symphony orchestra to travel to Israel during its 70th anniversary year, the Philadelphia Orchestra, which previously visited in 1992, is only the third to ever visit the country.

“To have this remarkable opportunity to travel to Israel with the extraordinary Philadelphia Orchestra is a dream come true,” says Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a member of Local 406 (Montreal, PQ). “It is incredibly fulfilling to represent our Philadelphia community abroad as cultural ambassadors.”

During the European leg of the tour, the Local 77 (Philadelphia, PA) musicians will tour Brussels, Belgium; Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; Paris, France; Düsseldorf, Germany;  Hamburg, Germany; and Vienna, Austria. They will then perform in the Israeli cities of Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.

Recent News

Concert Unites Iran and Israel in Opposition

When the nuclear accord agreement with Iran was reached this summer, artists in the Western countries involved hoped for greater cultural exchanges with the country. However, according to The New York Times, when Berlin Staatskapelic orchestra director Daniel Barenboim tried to bring a concert to Tehran, with the support of Germany’s foreign minister, he was met with opposition from both Iran and Israel. The Israeli culture minister called the performance anti-Israel and accused the director of “using culture as a platform for his political views against the state of Israel.” Iran’s culture ministry says it has decided against the concert because of Barenboim’s Israeli citizenship.