The musical institution, with its educational, artistic and humanist vocation, has been in shock since the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7 and the IDF response which followed in the form of massive bombings by the gang. Gaza.
While they conscientiously pursue their musical activity, the young Israeli and Arab virtuosos of the Barenboïm-Saïd Academy have “with a heavy heart” : the conflict in the Middle East occupies all their thoughts. Working on the instrument, playing in concert, studying philosophy, history and literature in English: the routine of this training which mixes music and humanities has been disrupted since October 7 and the unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel, which responds by relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip.
“The situation has always been complex but this is the biggest test since the creation of the academy in 2016,” violinist Michael Barenboïm told AFP. Son of the conductor Daniel Barenboïm, he is the dean of this unique school, born from the dream of peace of his father, a legendary Israeli-Argentine maestro, and the latter’s friend, Edward Saïd, Palestinian intellectual who died in 2003.
The academy’s classes currently have 80 students: 17 Israelis, 6 Palestinians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Iranians, Syrians, Turks, but also a German, a Norwegian and a Venezuelan.
“Emotionally, it’s extremely complicated”
“Emotionally, it’s extremely complicated for them” in a context where, at a minimum, “everyone knows someone who knows someone” directly affected by the conflict, adds Michael Barenboïm, aged 38.
More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel, according to authorities, including a large majority of civilians killed by Hamas commandos on the day of the attack. Israel’s bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 7,000 people, including more than 3,000 children, according to the Hamas health ministry.
During a recent academy concert in Berlin, the emotion was palpable within the orchestra. Before a minute of silence, the audience received a short message from the students on a sheet of paper: “Our hearts are heavy and our thoughts are elsewhere with all those affected by the devastating situation in Palestine and Israel.” After performing the Opera Idyll Siegfried of Wagner and the symphonies of Prokofiev and Beethoven, the young musicians embraced each other.
Daniel Barenboïm, aged 80, who only conducts rare concerts due to his state of health, was at the podium that evening. “May music bring us together, may it heal a small part of our hearts. We can do nothing other than hope for peace, freedom and security”said the students’ message.
“There are a lot of discussions between us, we try to listen to each other”
“It’s hard, everyone is affected. The atmosphere is heavy”, told AFP, after the concert, a 19-year-old Palestinian, who prefers to keep his name secret and has been studying in this institution for two years. Originally from the West Bank, his family has friends in Gaza. “Many students are constantly on their cell phones and in contact with family and friends,” testifies for her part Regula Rapp, director of the academy.
“There are a lot of discussions between us. We try to listen to each other. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t. It’s not easy”, explains the young Palestinian.
The academy is an extension of the West-Eastern Divan, an orchestra founded in 1999 by the same duo Barenboïm-Saïd, whose musicians also from the Middle East perform throughout the world to promote the rapprochement of peoples.
Psychological support
The school increased the provision of psychological support via therapists and set up telephone lines in Hebrew and Arabic. Regula Rapp hopes that “the fairly regulated daily life, lessons, music, instrument practice, will help students to stabilize”.
To enter this free institution which offers a scholarship to students and accommodates them for the first two years, the selection is tough: only one candidate in three, or in four, depending on the instrument, is accepted.
Michael Barenboïm would dream of seeing the academy take place in all the countries of the Middle East where the young people come from: “At the moment we can’t play in any country except Turkey, because of passports and pressure.” “It’s a dream from which we are very far away, he adds, I don’t know if I’ll live through this moment.”