Sherif, Avni close Philharmonic season

Soprano singers Keren Hadar and Einat Aronstein, as well as the Bat Kol children's choir, will participate in the performance.

By MAXIM REIDER
The artistic director of the Israeli Philharmonic has decided to close the orchestra's 2008-09 season with two pieces by local composers Ella Sherif and Zvi Avni. "My 'Anthem for the End of Night' is a symphonic piece, written after the poem of the same name by young Israeli poet Ro'i Chiki Arad,' says Sherif. "For me, this poem epitomizes the essence of Tel Aviv, the city which I love so much and which I see exactly as Arad does, with its rich rhythms, moods and multiple facets. I tried to express it in my music - for example, a lyric and melodic fragment can be suddenly shattered in pieces by a wild burst of rhythm. I also added lines from Nathan Alterman's 'Bunch of Cloves,' which also speaks of my perception of the city, and there is a very special interaction between the poems written here in different periods." Soprano singers Keren Hadar and Einat Aronstein, as well as the Bat Kol children's choir, will participate in the performance. "A group of darbuka players from Beit Shanti - a center that provides refuge and support to youth from problematic homes, as well as to lone soldiers on leave - are also among the performers," said Sharif. In the same program (July 6 and July 9 in Tel Aviv and July 12 in Jerusalem), Murray Perahia plays Beethoven's Second Concerto. Another program, taking place on July 10 and July 15 in Tel Aviv and July 13-14 in Haifa, features If This Is a Man - five songs for soprano and orchestra based on poems by Primo Levi, written by Avni and performed by Sharon Rostorf Zamir. Also on the program are Beethoven's Sixth Symphony and Brahms's Second Concerto, played by Efim Bronfman.