Dear Friends

We are delighted to welcome you to the Eleventh Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival. As usual, it is a privilege and a challenge for us to put together an interesting, exciting programme, comprising both well-loved classics and new and lesser-known works. I am proud and confident of the ability of our public to embrace and appreciate the new, which is what makes our Festival such a unique musical event.

This year's theme is an exploration of the ‘national spirit’ of music. What is it that makes music specifically French or German, Russian or Czech? Each programme will explore this aspect of the music of different countries.

Another very significant event is a celebration of Elliott Carter. The doyen of American composers will be celebrating his 100th birthday this December. We are extremely proud to announce the world premiere of his Flute Concerto, a commission shared with the Berlin Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras.

We are eager to come back to Jerusalem and to make music for you, or rather, with you, because nowhere in the world is there a public which has become so much a collective part of an artistic ‘family’.

Elena Bashkirova
Artistic Director