Our Creations Throughout the Years
Season 11
2019-20
׳The Jerusalem Andalusian Orchestra׳
1. Season Concerts:
Chabad Melodies
A performance that is all Chabad. Musical creations composed by the Chabad rabbinical sages or loved by them. Participants: Amir Benayoun, Kehilot Sharot Choir, Mayu Shviro (cello).
The Land They Promised Me
Conductor: Tom Cohen
A fantastical story that happened to two women and unfolded on two continents and in one Promised Land. The concert comprises instrumental pieces with stories and musical scores weaved into them.
Text by: Lucy Ayoub and music by: Tom Cohen
Participants: Lucy Ayoub
Our life in a Pitta
A celebration of festive music to note 25 years since the release of the most impactful albums in the history of Israeli music.
Participants: Tipex (band)
Greece—Israel
A concert comprising hit Greek folk music with special arrangements in the language of the orchestra.
Participants: Dimitris Basis
2. East-West Series in the Israeli Opera House—Season 3:
The Piano and the Orchestra
One of the most important instruments in Western music turns into a fascinating bridge between two continents and musical styles
Participants: Three virtuoso pianists
Omri Mor, who weaves together the piano and the music of North Africa;
Guy Mintus who combines jazz with Turkish and Greek music;
and Nizar Elkhater, who ties together the Rahbani brothers from Lebanon and Austrian Mozart.
Nais Balamo
The performance features soloist Eleni Vitali, Greece’s biggest star. Vitali will perform with her mesmerizing voice, new versions of her most beloved songs spanning an amazing career of over 45 years.
Participants: Elini Vitali, Israel Yifrach (bouzouki).
Homage to Fairuz
A special concert dedicated to a legendary Lebanese Diva and one of the Arab world’s most important cultural icons—Fairuz.
Participants: Mira Awad, Riham Hamadi, and Guy Mintus (piano).
3. Off-Season Notable Concerts:
Shalem: Mekudeshet Festival
The Jerusalem Orchestra East and West, accompanied by 100 musicians in a massive one-time performance of original music, which was played on broken instruments from all over the city.
Greek Orchard: End of the Summer Festival
A bustling tavern with a playlist of classical Greek songs, in Greek, Hebrew, and Ladino with new arrangements.
Participants: Trifonas and Galit Giat
Selichot in Safra Square
An annual concert, Erev Yom Kippur
Participants: Moshe Giat, Itzik Kala, Narkis, Neta Elkayam, Sapir Saban, Yossi Azulay and Matti Seri.
One Sound for Coexistence
An annual celebration of the Beit Berl Center for the Advancement of Shared Society
Participants: Sapir Saban, Mehmet Dash, and Itzik Rikan.
Fundraiser for IGY
Israel LGBTQ+ Youth Movement — a tribute to Ofer Nissim
Participants: Miri Mesika, Nasreen Qadri, Meital De Razon, Harel Skaat, Bell Agam, Rivka Zohar, Lucy Ayoub, Assi Azar, Riki Ben Ari, and Siman Tov.
Timna Festival
Tribute to the hits of Middle Eastern singers.
Participants: Shai Tsabari, Ravid Kahalani, and Adva Omer.
4. Digital Concerts:
Song of the Dove Festival
A peace concert held on the Israel-Egypt-Jordan border triangle. A celebration of culture, tradition, and peace between peoples.
Participants: David Broza and Rahela.
Arabesque Festival
A concert focused entirely on the larger-than-life personalities that shaped Israeli culture and the accompanying melodies, which weaved together influences from the surrounding countries.
Participants: Idan Amedi, Lina Makhoul, Ziv Yehezkel, and Sama Shoufani.
Dialna—The Next Generation
Three musicians: Elad Levy (kamancheh), Omri Mor (piano), and Hagai Bilitzky (oud and contrabass)—join forces to stage an authentic Andalusia concert with a unique orchestra created especially for the Arabesque Festival 2020, comprising the next generation of their students.
Participants: Neta Elkayam and Yohai Cohen.
Sounds from the Vineyard: End of Summer Festival
Homage to a one-of-a-kind musical and cultural phenomenon. Songs that were written in the Yemeni neighborhood ‘Kerem HaTeimanim’ in the 70s and 80s, which combined Yemenite piyutim and British guitar-rock. Led by a fascinating mix of soloists showcased in the festival, we take a trip through and around every cultural feature of this seminal neighborhood.
Participants: Shai Tsabari, Ravid Kahalani, Adva Omer, and Yehuda Keisar (electric
guitar).
Piano Festival
From Beethoven’s fifth symphony with a one-time arrangement to the “Beethovens” of the Arab world–El Qasabgi (Egypt), El Harrachi and El Medioni (Algeria) and, of course, the al-Kuwaity brothers (Iraq)–who created a new form of classical music.
Participants: Dudu Tassa and Omri Mor (piano).
Albert’s Secret
A theatrical concert created especially for children. Abraham Cohen wrote and starred in a performance by the Jerusalem Orchestra East and West — a one-time-only experience.
Sounds between East and West
A digital enrichment program
In these meetings, moderator Sofi Tsedaka will allocate interchanging listening
assignments such as guided listening and movement, group tasks, familiarization with and work with graphic scores, interactive musical puzzles, and more. The tasks will be carried out jointly by the teachers and students.
Concerts with no audience
Shigouri-Style
Jewish, Morocco folk music. Neta Elkayam presents select pieces from the work of the greatest Jewish Moroccan artists, with the help of kamancheh artist Elad Levy.
Participants: Neta Elkayam and Elad Levy (kamancheh).
Homage to Saliman Elmaghribi and Albert Swissa
Contemporary mythological figure—soloist and piytan Emil Zrihan pays homage to two mythological figures who preceded him—Albert Swissa and Saliman Elmaghribi. A true North African celebration.
Participants: Emil Zrihan
North African Flamenco
Featuring Flamenco stars— Paco de Lucía, Lola Flores, and more performing new arrangements that hint at a connection to North Africa’s Andalusian music.
Participants: Yehuda Shawki.
Desert Blues
The concert showcases the music of the desert ranging from the sultry tones of Nubia to the Sahara, from West to East Africa, and original music inspired by desert blues.
Participants: Riff Cohen and Ravid Kahalani.
Middle East Mix
Music from Russia, Venezuela, France, and Dagestan. Songs in Russian, Arabic, and
French. And all under the heading of Israeli music. The concert soloists take us on a
musical journey across the globe.
Participants: Ella Daniel, Daniella Lugassy, Ariel Bart (harmonica), and Yossi Azulay.
Persian Pop
The musical genre that dominated pre-revolution Iran in 79 and continues to resonate in its new capital in Los Angeles (Tehrangeles). Liraz Charhi takes us on a fascinating journey in which the best-loved Persian pop songs take a new and surprising direction with arrangements by the orchestra.
Participants: Liraz Charhi
Between Arabia and the West
The concert, which brings together the Egyptian classics of Umm Kulthum and the chaabi and shigouri pearls of North Africa, is the soundtrack for multiple neighborhoods in our country. Woven into our special orchestral arrangements is the extraordinary added value of the orchestra.
Viva Andalusia
From the liturgical Ala andalus through Berberic Jewish poetry to Ladino from
Thessaloniki, the soloist takes us on an enchanting historical, geographic journey.
Participants: Mor Karbasi
Arabic Classics
The prince of Tarab, Ziv Yehezkel, presents his unique interpretation of music from all over the Middle East—Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon, with new orchestral arrangements–a must for lovers of the genre.
Participants: Ziv Yehezkel
5. Original Works:
Darbuka for Corona
At the height of the Corona pandemic when we were all confined to our homes and all concerts and rehearsals were canceled, Tom Cohen composed a small piece designed to bring a little joy into people’s lives, to connect and showcase our love and sense of family, which we believe is the greatest strength. Each participant filmed and recorded in their home put the material together, and the result is the video clip you see here.
Wayak—with Sanaa Marahati (Morocco)
The international collaboration between Tom Cohen, the Jerusalem Orchestra East and West, and the Moroccan Diva, Sanaa Marahati, pivots around Farid al-Atrash’s
song, Wayak, or in its Arabic translation, With You.
Feel Me
A new song that is the result of an international collaboration
Tom Cohen, who arranged and produced the song, also conducted the orchestra’s
recording of it, which then made its way to a recording studio in Bahrain where
responsorial choral singing and authentic percussion instruments were added to the mix, as well as the Haliji bells of US singer, Rahela. In addition, guest artist, Hod Moshonov (Bemet) is featured in the song and the clip, directed by Zohar Ron.
Feel Me was written especially for the orchestra by poet Ahmad Ibn Idris and composer Muhammad Hussein from the UAE.
