Israel takes a shot at another Eurovision title

For the first time since 1986, an Israeli is participating in the Young Musicians competition

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: AUGUST 20, 2018 04:07
Tamir Naaman-Pery, an 18-year-old cellist from the Kamon moshav, in Young Musicians Eurovision 2018 (photo credit: COURTESY KAN)
Tamir Naaman-Pery, an 18-year-old cellist from the Kamon moshav, in Young Musicians Eurovision 2018
(photo credit: COURTESY KAN)
For the first time in 32 years, Israel is competing at the Eurovision. No, not that Eurovision, but the Eurovision Young Musicians competition currently underway in Edinburgh, Scotland.
On Saturday evening, Tamir Naaman-Pery, an 18-yearold cellist from the Kamon moshav in the Galilee, performed in the competition’s semifinals. Naaman-Pery played two pieces – Hungarian Rhapsody Op. 68 by Popper and Preludio-Fantasia from Suite for Cello by Cassadó.
Once all the semifinal performances are complete, the jury for the competition will select six musicians out of the 18 competitors to move forward to the final round. Those six will perform in the grand finale on Thursday evening in Edinburgh before one winner is crowned.
If Naaman-Pery advances to the finals, it will be broadcast live on KAN 11 on Thursday.
Israel’s first and only other time participating in the Eurovision Young Musicians competition was 1986 in Denmark. Since then, the Israel Broadcasting Authority opted not to send a participant to the contest, which is held every two years. But this year the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, known as KAN (which replaced the IBA last year), chose to return to the competition after 32 years away.
KAN selected Naaman-Pery from among five young Israeli musicians who took part in auditions earlier this year.
“I love music because I think it’s the best way to express yourself,” Naaman-Pery said in his introduction video for the competition. The 18-yearold first learned the cello at the Karmiel Music Conservatory at age nine, has taken part in several international music festivals and currently studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
The winner of the 2018 Eurovision Young Musicians contest receives a trophy, 7,000 euros and a performance opportunity with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.