page_title: Music of Israel
section_title: Classical music
hierarchical_section_title: Music of Israel / Popular genres / Classical music
caption_attribution_description: Español: Ensayo de la orquesta del Diván Este-Oeste 2005. Bajo la dirección de Daniel Barenboim, se ensaya la Primera sinfonía, «Titán» de Gustav Mahler (4º movimiento, Stürmisch bewegt). Pilas (Sevilla), 25 de julio de 2005. English: West-East Divan Rehearse. Under the lead of Daniel Barenboim, in Pilas, Sevilla, Spain, 07-25-2005. العربية: أوركيسترا الديوان الغربي الشرقي التي أسسها إدوارد سعيد عام 1999. الفرقة في الصورة تحت قيادة عازف البيانو الأرجنتيني دانييل بارينبويم في سيفيلا، أسبانيا.
context_page_description: The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. For almost 150 years, musicians have sought original stylistic elements that would define the emerging national spirit. In addition to creating an Israeli style and sound, Israel's musicians have made significant contributions to classical, jazz, pop rock and other international music genres. Since the 1970s, there has been a flowering of musical diversity, with Israeli rock, folk and jazz musicians creating and performing extensively, both locally and abroad. Many of the world's top classical musicians are Israelis or Israeli expatriates. The works of Israeli classical composers have been performed by leading orchestras worldwide.
  Music in Israel is an integral part of national identity. Beginning in the days of the pioneers, Hebrew songs and public singalongs were encouraged and supported by the establishment. "Public singalongs were a common pastime [of the early settlers], and were for them a force in defining their identity", wrote Nathan Shahar. This view of music as nation-building continues to this day.
context_section_description: After 1967, classical composers in Israel continued their quest for an Israeli identity in art music.  Some Israeli composers have chosen explicitly Jewish or Middle Eastern materials for their compositions.
  Leon Schidlowsky, was born in Chile and settled in Israel in 1969, when he was 38 years old. Many of his compositions are inspired by Jewish themes, including the Holocaust, without forgetting his Latin American origin. Several of his symphonic works have been premiered by the Israel Philharmonic. Schidlowsky was a professor at the Tel Aviv University.
  Betty Olivero uses melodies and modes from her Sephardic Jewish background, building layers of overtones and pantonal harmonies on top of them, so the effect is at the same time very dissonant yet clearly familiar.  Despite its modernity, her music has a distinctly Sephardic and tonal character.  An example is  "Achot Ketana", based on a 13th-century Sephardic prayer, and quoting from a Bach chaconne.
  Tsippi Fleischer sets classical poetry in Arabic, Ugarith, and other languages to contemporary music.  She uses many features of Arabic music in her compositions, including the use of maqamat, with complex microtonic intonation, combined with traditional Arabic, Western classical and modern instrumentation.  An example is "The Goddess Anath", based on scripts in Ugarith, a composition in multimedia for woman's voice, violin, piano, percussion and dancer.
  Andre Hajdu, an immigrant from Hungary, has arranged Hassidic tunes for jazz ensemble.
  Mark Kopytman, a Russian immigrant, has composed symphonic and chamber works based on Jewish themes.  An example is his composition "Memory" for string orchestra, which recalls the klezmer music of Eastern Europe.
  Other Israeli composers of note, including Noam Sherif, Ami Maayani, Yehezkel Braun, and Zvi Avni, have also used Jewish and Israeli themes in their compositions. A new generation of composers includes Yitzhak Yedid, Lior Navok, Gilad Hochman.
  In addition to the Israel Philharmonic, a number of other Israeli orchestras have achieved renown.  These include the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, which is supported by the state radio and television authority; the Rishon LeZion Orchestra, and the Camerata Orchestra.  One of the motivations for creating these orchestras was to provide employment for Russian immigrant musicians, who arrived in Israel with a high professional level but could not find jobs in their field.
  The New Israel Opera Company was founded in 1985.  This was the first successful attempt to establish a permanent repertory opera, after a series of failed attempts starting in the 1940s In 1995, the Opera moved into a permanent home in the Golda Center in Tel Aviv.
  Israel has produced some of the world's leading performers and conductors.  These include pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, and a large number of violinists, among them Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, Ivry Gitlis, Gil Shohat and Shlomo Mintz.
  The Jerusalem Quartet is a string quartet that has achieved international acclaim.  Other leading chamber groups include the Jerusalem Trio, the Tel Aviv Soloists, the Carmel Quartet and the Aviv Quartet.
caption: Daniel Barenboim conducting the West-Eastern Divan, a project bringing together Israeli and Arab musicians.
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