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Israeli Society

Jerusalem Orchestra Members Perform Virtual Concert From Homes in Israel, New York

The Jerusalem Orchestra East & West did a virtual performance last week to help lift spirits amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Tom Cohen, the orchestra’s artistic director and chief conductor, and the 35 musicians he worked with recorded a new original piece called “Darbuka la Corona” from their homes in Israel and New York. The almost 3-minute clip featured the musicians in various parts of their home and even outside.

“One morning during the first week of this corona frenzy, I suddenly realized that for me, as well as for my orchestra׳s members, this is the first time in 11 years we do not wake up for days of rehearsals, concerts, arrangements, composition and other creative activities that have become our daily routine,” Cohen wrote on the orchestra’s Facebook page. “When I realized that the orchestra’s whatsapp group continued to be vibrant and active — I immediately sat down to do the only thing I know how…I wrote a small piece that aims to make us all happy and show our love and familliarity (sic), that is more powerful than anything else. I wanted it to be both very simple yet complexed, ‘high’ but at eye level – just like us.”

Read More: Algemeiner