Carnegie Hall

Founded by Polyphony Education in 2012, the Galilee Chamber Orchestra broke ground as the first professional orchestra composed of both Arab and Jewish musicians in Israel. Initially, the ensemble included only three Arab musicians; now 10 years later, as a result of Polyphony’s educational efforts, the 35-member orchestra boasts equal numbers of both Jewish and Arab musicians. The orchestra enjoys an international reputation and performs in major festivals and venues in Israel and abroad. Led by pianist and conductor Saleem Ashkar, the orchestra brings together musicians from all over Israel, including the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Nazareth. Combining members of Israel’s leading orchestras and exceptional young musicians from the Polyphony Conservatory and seminar, the orchestra ensures a high level of performance and provides a fresh and unique energy to its audiences. 

The Galilee Chamber Orchestra’s impact extends throughout Israel, bringing classical music to students and communities in peripheral regions. The orchestra and its members play a major role in Polyphony’s education programs in schools, annually providing hundreds of explained concerts, both orchestral and chamber music. Moved by the orchestra’s top-notch musicianship and vision for Arab and Jewish partnership and equality, world-famous musicians—such as cellist Lynn Harrell and pianist Sir András Schiff—have performed with the orchestra in Israel.

In summer 2019, the Galilee Chamber Orchestra reached a significant milestone with its first European tour. The orchestra is currently engaged in its first North American tour, originally scheduled for December 2020, with an upcoming performance at Koerner Hall in Toronto with pianist Jon Kimura Parker.

Following its debut at the Israeli Opera House in June 2021, the Galilee Chamber Orchestra is launching an opera-in-concert series in partnership with the Israeli Opera. The orchestra also has a residency at the annual Liturgical Music Festival in Nazareth.

Pianist and conductor Saleem Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an exciting and versatile international career. Recent and future concerto highlights include the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Previous seasons have seen him perform with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Europe; the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in North America; Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra; and on a three-week tour to Australia. He has a close relationship with many leading conductors, including David Afkham, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kazushi Ono, and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

Mr. Ashkar is artistic director of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra and works with the orchestra both as conductor and soloist. In the summer of 2019, he led the orchestra on a highly acclaimed German tour that took it to Berlin Konzerthaus and the Rheingau Festival. In past seasons, he has conducted the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg, and Kammerakademie Potsdam. Upcoming events include conducting engagements with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra in an all-Shostakovich program and the Berlin Konzerthaus Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Ashkar’s recent recordings for Decca Records include Felix Mendelssohn’s piano concertos with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Mr. Chailly and two Beethoven concertos with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra conducted by Ivor Bolton. He is also in the process of recording the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas for Decca; the first five volumes have been released.

With a career that spans almost four decades, Grammy Award–winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of his era. Having performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, he continues to maintain engagements as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor, and music director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Mr. Bell’s highlights in the 2021–2022 season include leading the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at the 2021 BBC Proms and on tour in the US. He also performs return engagements with The Philadelphia Orchestra (in a play-conduct program), the Minnesota Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic; and he tours with the Israel Philharmonic and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. In summer 2020, PBS presented Joshua Bell: At Home With Music, a nationwide broadcast directed by Tony and Emmy award winner Dori Berinstein, produced entirely in lockdown.

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Mr. Bell began playing the violin at age four, and at age 12, began studies with Josef Gingold. At 14, he debuted with Riccardo Muti and The Philadelphia Orchestra, and debuted at Carnegie Hall at age 17 with the St. Louis Symphony. At age 18, he signed with his first label, London Decca, and received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the years that followed, he has been named 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, a 2007 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, nominated for six Grammy Awards, and received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize. He has also received the 2003 Indiana Governor’s Arts Award and a Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1991 from the Jacobs School of Music. In 2000, he was named an Indiana Living Legend.

Mr. Bell has performed for three American presidents and the sitting justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He participated in Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ first cultural mission to Cuba, joining Cuban and American musicians on a 2017 Live from Lincoln Center Emmy-nominated PBS special, “Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba,” celebrating renewed cultural diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.