“When we Arab and Jewish musicians play together on one stage and read the same music, it makes me feel that maybe we still have hope…it’s possible for things to get better.”
— Feras, 17-year-old Arab boy
Building The Ensemble
At Polyphony, we see ensembles everywhere.
Each of our Explained Concerts is a coming together of hundreds of schoolchildren, dozens of elementary school teachers and a full professional orchestra. The enthusiasm is contagious and the separation between the performers and the audience fades away.
At our Conservatories, we focus on developing the sound of the group. Young people form quartets very early on in their learning. To be successful, a quartet must perform music in the same way—instrumentally, tonally, expressively. That requires the musicians to go through the process of deciding together how they will play the piece. As a result, these children become exceptionally skilled at listening to each other, looking at each other and building their unified sound.
When they join the ensemble, they make a commitment to find a way to grow together. This experience transforms them into leaders who can build ensembles elsewhere in their lives—families, schools, peer groups—and show the way to a shared future in Israel.
Watch our Youth Orchestra perform
