West-Eastern Divan: Arab + Israeli Youth Orchastra

Wiki says:

"Daniel Barenboim (born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born Israeli pianist and conductor. He is also known for his work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a Sevilla-based orchestra of young Arab and Jewish musicians."

His official website: Daniel Barenboim

In the beginning there was sound - BBC Radio lectures by DB

Quote from WIKI:

The West-Eastern Divan is a youth orchestra based in Sevilla, Spain, consisting of musicians from countries in the Middle East, of Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian background. The Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian-American academic Edward Said founded the orchestra in 1999, and named the ensemble after an anthology of poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The first orchestra workshop was in Weimar, Germany in 1999,^[1] after the organisation had received over 200 applications from Arab music students.^[2] Daniel Barenboim has also expressed interest in musicians from Iran (a non-Arab country but in conflict with Israel) and three Iranian musicians are to play in the Orchestra each year.

The aim of the West-Eastern Divan is to promote understanding between Israelis and Palestinians and pave the way for a peaceful and fair solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Barenboim himself has spoken of the ensemble as follows.:

"The Divan is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn't. It's not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I'm not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I'm] not trying to convince the Israelis to the Arab point of view. But I want to - and unfortunately I am alone in this now that Edward died a few years ago - ...create a platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to knives."^[3]

[read a bit more on Wiki]

Update of Miscelleneous Things

Went to a show of Further, Grateful Dead continuation... Madison Square Garden.

Taught the song 'My Shadow and Me' of Yehuda Poliker, in Hebrew lesson today. To an enthused art-teacher. It was inspiring and fun!

Listened to Eran Tsur's new alubm. Sensetive, beautiful and funny.

Loving music again. Reconnecting to it!

-----
Sunday:
Write Action! was wonderful! Getting back in touch with my writing-Self.

Tea Girls - 1st meeting. 3 of us. Brain storming. Warrior's exchange. Creativity and criticism, exploration of non-judgemental space. Joy and curiosity.

Further show- recalling beautiful live Pearl Jam moments. :-) Reconnecting to my music-loving-self. Connecting to my lover who is a Further fan.

There Must Be Another Way- Arab-Jewish, Israeli Duet

Duet of Arab-Israeli and Jewish Israeli women, singing together, representing Israel in the Eurovision song contest 2009.

NYC's JCC's film festival - "Other Israel" - will screen a US premier of the 70-min. film titled like the song, following this duo as they go to the contest after the military operation in Gaza, and despite criticism from left and right. There will be Q & A with singer Mira Awad.

===
About the song, from Wikipedia:

"There Must Be Another Way" is a song by Israeli singers Noa and Mira Awad, and was Israel's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, finishing 16th with 53 points. The song competed in the first semifinal on 12 May, qualifying for the final round. The song was composed by Noa, Awad, and Gil Dor, and contains lyrics in English, Hebrew and Arabic.^[1][2]

Awad, an Arab-Israeli, and Noa, a Jewish-Israeli, performed it together as a song that emphasises hope and understanding through common humanity. The singers describe "There Must Be Another Way" not as a song of peace, but as a simple call to respect the humanity of others.^[3]

The song also has a Hebrew title, "Einaiych" (Hebrew script: עינייך; English translation: "Your Eyes").

There was some controversy about the duo performing together for Eurovision in left wing circles in Israeli and Palestinian circles. Some felt it was hypocritical to choose them following the Gaza siege of January 2009, and that this did not reflect on the reality of life within Israel between those Israeli citizens who are Jewish and those who are Arab.^[4] In an interview on National Public Radio, Awad acknowledged this criticism, and said, "We're not naïve enough to think that we're representing any existing situation. We are trying to show a possible situation that we believe is possible if we just make the necessary efforts."^[5]

Seeing Blonde Redhead Tonight

Going to see Blonde Redhead tonight.
One of my favorite bands.

Joy!