Music for the people

The Musethica Festival could help make classical works accessible to various sectors of the public who would not normally get to a concert hall.

By BARRY DAVIS
THE MUSETHICA Festival incorporates open rehearsals and concerts, as well as musical vignettes at various special needs and other institutions (photo credit: COURTESY MUSETHICA)
THE MUSETHICA Festival incorporates open rehearsals and concerts, as well as musical vignettes at various special needs and other institutions
(photo credit: COURTESY MUSETHICA)
Classical music concerts are viewed by some as a sort of elitist event, and as an occasion for dressing to the nines while enjoying some “cultured” live sounds. The Musethica Festival could help to change that image as well as making classical works accessible to various sectors of the public who would not normally get to a concert hall, or even consider making the effort to do so.
The festival, which is organized by the Musethica organization and administered, on a voluntary basis, by Zvika Zoref, Dafna Levitan and Orit Naor, is set to take place up and down the country from today through October 25, incorporating open rehearsals and concerts, as well as musical vignettes at various special needs and other institutions.
The concerts will be held on October 24 and 25 (11:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. respectively) at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv, and on October 21, at 8:30 p.m., at the YMCA in Jerusalem. The repertoire for the concerts includes works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Shostakovich, Dvorák, 20th century Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaye and American composer Donald Martino, who died in 2005. All proceeds from the concerts will go to supporting Musethica’s ongoing activities.
The musicians who will perform in the concerts, and the open rehearsals and master classes, include four celebrated professionals – Germany- based Israeli viola player Musethica organization founder Avri Levitan, internationally renowned cellist Zvi Plesser, violinist Roi Shiloah and Polish counterpart Kuba Jakowicz.
The performer lineup also features outstanding young musicians from all over Israel.
The open rehearsals will be held at the conservatory today and tomorrow, and there will be closed recitals at various organizations around the country, including at the Chimes Special Education Center in Tel Aviv, a primary school for the children of immigrants in Tel Aviv, a center for autistic children, and the Geha Psychiatric Hospital, and several stops in Jerusalem, including the Alyn Hospital for children and youth, the Yad Sarah Rehabilitation Center and Yad Sarah Center for Holocaust Survivors, and the Multi-Service Center for the Blind.
For tickets to the concerts: (02) 624-1041 (Jerusalem) and (03) 546-6228 (Tel Aviv). For more information: www.musethica.org