classical music

A man walks over the rubble after a bomb exploded at the Argentinian Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 1994. (AFP/Ali Burafi)

July 7, 2019, 11:54 pm

Musical Kaddish/requiem to be performed for 1994 Jewish center bombing victims

As 25th anniversary of terror attack against Argentine Jewish community nears, rabbi and composer team up for concert with 200 on stage at iconic Buenos Aires theater

By JTA

Lahav Shani who was appointed to succeed Zubin Mehta as the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. (Courtesy Marco Borggreve)

May 22, 2019, 11:40 am

In shadow of legendary mentor, wunderkind maestro to lead Israel Philharmonic

30-year-old Lahav Shani says it is an ‘honor’ to take the reins of iconic orchestra from Zubin Mehta, the conductor since 1969

By Josef Federman

Corey Dalton Hart, tenor, in the role of Mordocai in the March 2, 2019 Miryam Ensemble performance of Lidarti's 'Esther.' (Credit Daniel Lieber/courtesy Miryam
Ensemble)

March 20, 2019, 8:44 pm

Baroque ‘Esther’ oratorio’s fate overturned by miraculous rescue from obscurity

18th century Hebrew-language musical dramatization of Purim story was nearly lost to time; now, just ahead of the holiday a recent production marks its East Coast premiere

By Penny Schwartz

Ester Rada (left) and members of electronic band Geshem will perform with the Revolution Orchestra on February 25, 2019, at The New Israeli Opera. (Courtesy Gaya Saadon and Ron Kedmi)

February 25, 2019, 12:56 pm

A night of groovy jazz standards with a rebellious orchestra

The Revolution Orchestra will bebop its way through a host of classics with crooner Ester Rada and the electronic Geshem band

By Jessica Steinberg

Musical director and conductor Daniel Barenboim stands in the main concert hall of the newly renovated Staatsoper opera house in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP)

February 22, 2019, 11:16 pm

Star conductor Barenboim hits back after criticisms

Berlin-based conductor says accusations he is ‘temperamental’ are part of campaign to get him to leave the city

By AFP

Israeli-American pianist Yael Weiss plays the piano during an AFP interview at The Mansion at Strathmore on January 23, 2019, in North Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by OLIVIA HAMPTON / AFP)

February 5, 2019, 6:26 am

Israeli-American pianist premieres Beethoven-inspired works from conflict zones

Yael Weiss commissions modern takes on sonatas ahead of composer’s 250th birthday, written by 32 musicians, including from Syria and Iran

By Olivia Hampton

Nelly Ben-Or sitting by one of her two pianos in her London home, December 13, 2018. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

January 5, 2019, 5:30 am

Nelly Ben-Or risked all to play the piano. It helped her survive the Holocaust

International concert pianist releases her acclaimed autobiography ‘Ashes to Light,’ a story of betrayal, hunger and self-sacrifice, and the will to continue an artistic life

By Cnaan Liphshiz

From '4x4 Ephemeral Architectures,' a juggling ballet performed by Gandini Juggling to a work composed by Nimrod Borenstein (Courtesy Gandini Juggling)

December 28, 2018, 7:35 am

A classical composer brings his music home to Israel

Paris-raised and London-based musician Nimrod Borenstein’s works have been performed globally, but only arrived here this year

By Jessica Steinberg

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony performing Mahler's Symphony No. 5 on September 3, 2010 in Davies Symphony Hall. (Bill Swerbenski/ courtesy SFS)

December 19, 2018, 3:49 am

San Francisco Symphony revives homage to Anne Frank, dedicates it to Pittsburgh

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas’s 36-minute piece, originally written together with Audrey Hepburn, gets new life on 70th anniversary of UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights

By Lisa Klug

Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim (C) and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra are seen at curtain call at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2018. (Olivia Hampton/AFP)

November 9, 2018, 2:58 pm

Israeli-Palestinian orchestra brings message of peace to divided America

Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan opens its program of determined idealism with ‘Don Quixote’

By Olivia Hampton

Philip Glass at a party celebrating his 80th birthday at Gotham Hall in New York City, March 16, 2017. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tibet House US/via JTA)

July 26, 2018, 8:56 am

Celebrated composer Philip Glass to receive Kennedy Center honor

Now 81, the musician made ‘enduring and indelible marks on our culture,’ says cultural center

By JTA

Philadelphia Orchestra music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the final concert of the orchestra's Israel tour with body and soul (Courtesy Jan Regan)

June 7, 2018, 4:48 am

A triumphant coda to Philadelphia Orchestra’s much-debated visit to Israel

The trip, marked by a scattering of BDS protests, ends on a high note in Jerusalem with standing ovations at the final performance

By Jessica Steinberg

The Philadelphia Orchestra, with conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin, after performing at the Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv on June 4, 2018. (Maxim Reider/courtesy)

June 5, 2018, 11:42 am

In Tel Aviv, Philadelphia Orchestra triumphs over ‘Age of Anxiety’

One of the US’s ‘big five’ puts on a thrilling and inspiring performance of Bernstein and Tchaikovsky, defying BDS – and with Palestinian children in the audience

By James Inverne

June 1, 2018, 7:19 pm

James Inverne

Bravo to the Philadelphia Orchestra

Culture primarily inspires personal, private reactions, which is why an orchestra is almost never wrong to play

Leonard Bernstein in 1970. (Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images/via JTA)

April 26, 2018, 3:41 am

7 treasures from the Library of Congress celebration of Leonard Bernstein

The larger-than-life Jewish conductor, composer and educator is honored in a bonanza of concerts, stage productions and programs marking the centennial of his birth

By Penny Schwartz