The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: התזמורת הסימפונית ירושלים, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Simfonit Yerushalayim'') is a major orchestra of Israel. Since the 1980s, the JSO has been based in the

Henry Crown Henry Crown (; June 13, 1896 – August 14, 1990) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Among other things, he founded the Material Service Corporation, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. At the time of his death, he was a ...

Symphony Hall, part of the Jerusalem Theater complex. Henry Crown Auditorium-3

History

The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, now in its 85rd season, was founded as the

Palestine Broadcasting Service The Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) was the state-owned radio broadcasting station that operated from Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel and Palestinian territories) With the main transmitter in Ramallah. It operated from March 1936 un ...

Orchestra in the late 1930s. In 1948 it became the national radio orchestra and was known as the “Kol Israel Orchestra”. In the 1970s, the orchestra was expanded into the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Broadcasting Authority. As a radio symphony orchestra, the majority of the concerts which the orchestra holds at its resident hall – the Henry Crown Auditorium – are being recorded and broadcast over Kan Kol Ha’musika station. The current Music Director of the JSO is Maestro

Steven Sloane Steven Sloane (born 1958) is an Israeli- American conductor. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Sloane developed an interest in conducting at age 16. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in music. ...

. The orchestra has had eight musical directors hitherto:

Mendi Rodan Mendi Rodan (Hebrew: מנדי רודן) (born 17 April 1929; died 9 May 2009) was an Israeli conductor and educator. Biography Mendi Rodan (Rosenblum) was born in Iaşi, Romania, one of three children of Solomon and Miriam Rosenblum. Mendi began p ...

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

Gary Bertini Gary Bertini ( he, גארי ברתיני, May 1, 1927 – March 17, 2005) was one of the most important Israeli musicians and conductors. In 1978 he was awarded the Israel Prize for Music. Biography Gary Bertini was born ''Shloyme Golergant'' i ...

Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and th ...

, David Shallon,

Leon Botstein Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American conducting, conductor, educator, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College. Biography 1946–1975: Early life, education, and career Botstein was ...

and Frédéric Chaslin. The orchestra maintains a varied repertoire which ranges from the Baroque and the Classical periods through the Romantic period, extending to

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

composers, many of whom have received their Israeli premières with the JSO. The orchestra was the first Israeli Orchestra to perform the works of renowned composers such as Sofia Gubaidolina, Henry Dutilleux,

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...

and others. Since its inception the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra has consistently encouraged Israeli composers by commissioning and performing their works. Over the decades, some of the music world’s legendary musicians have performed with the JSO, with memorable performances by Igor Stravinsky,

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

, Arthur Rubinstein,

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

, Mstislav Rostropovich,

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

, Pablo Casals,

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (russian: Игорь Борисович Маркевич, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', uk, Ігор Борисович Маркевич, ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian- ...

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname "Szeryng" is a Poli ...

Yo Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

, Pierre Boulez, Neville Mariner, Christa Ludwig,

Tabea Zimmermann Tabea Zimmermann (born 8 October 1966) is a German violist. Born in Lahr, she began learning to play the viola at the age of three, and commenced piano studies at age five. At the age of 13, she studied viola with Ulrich Koch at the Conservat ...

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and education Argerich was born in Buenos A ...

Radu Lupu Radu Lupu (30 November 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a Romanian pianist. He was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his time. Born in Galați, Romania, Lupu began studying piano at the age of six. Two of his major piano teach ...

, Jose Carreras, Jean Pierre Rampal,

Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (russian: Максим Александрович Венгеров, , mɐkˈsʲim ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ vʲɪnˈɡʲerəf; he, מקסים ונגרוב; born 20 August 1974) is a Russian-born Israeli violinist, ...

and

Yefim Bronfman Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman (russian: Ефим Наумович Бронфман; born April 10, 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist. Biography Bronfman was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 15. H ...

. Among the most notable premières performed by the orchestra: the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

''David'' by

Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

(1954); the cantata '' Abraham and Isaac'' by Stravinsky, conducted by

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

(1964); and Symphony No. 7 ''The Seven Gates of Jerusalem'' by

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

conducted by Maestro Lorin Maazel, which was commissioned as the conclusion for the Jerusalem 3000 celebrations. In the past, the orchestra took particular pride in the Liturgical Festival, founded by Maestro

, which presented music of worship from the three major religions. The festival has now been incorporated into the concert season as a series of vocal and liturgical concerts. The orchestra performs regularly at the

Israel Festival The Israel Festival ( he, פסטיבל ישראל) is a multidisciplinary arts festival held every spring in Israel. Its center is Jerusalem. The festival operates as a non-profit organization. Some of the shows are offered free. Street performance ...

. In 2008 the JSO presented the Israeli première of ''

Das Klagende Lied ''Das klagende Lied'' (''Song of Lamentation'') is a cantata by Gustav Mahler, composed between 1878 and 1880 and greatly revised over the next two decades. In its original form, ''Das klagende Lied'' is the earliest of his works to have survived ...

'' (

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

) with conductor

Uri Segal Uri Segal (born 7 March 1944, Jerusalem) is an Israeli musical conductor. Segal studied violin and conducting at the Rubin Academy of Music (now the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance). From 1966 to 1969, he attended the Guildhall School of Mus ...

and the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir. The JSO often conducts tours in Europe and in the United States, and has played in some of the most prestigious venues, including the Musikvereine in Vienna, the Philharmonie in Cologne and Carnegie Hall in New-York. In February 2015 the JSO was invited by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

to Paris to perform

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

’s Symphony No. 13, ''

Babi Yar Babi Yar (russian: Ба́бий Яр) or Babyn Yar ( uk, Бабин Яр) is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany's forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. T ...

'' in a special concert which commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Even more recently, in August 2015 the orchestra toured in Brazil with Maestro Chaslin and Israeli soloist Itamar Zorman and in 2016 toured the US and Japan. In June 2009 the orchestra performed the oratorio ''

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

'' (

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

) at the closing event of the annual Bachfest in Leipzig. The orchestra is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport and the Jerusalem City municipality.

Musical directors

The Jerusalem Symphony has been led by the following musical directors: *

(1963–72) *

(1972–76) *

(1978–87) *

(1988–92) * David Shallon (1992–2000) * Frédéric Chaslin (1999–2002) *

(2003–2013) * Frédéric Chaslin (September 2012 – 2019) *

(September 2019 – Present)

References

External links

*
History of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra Blog
{{Authority control Israeli orchestras Musical groups from Jerusalem Symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1938