"Symphony for Palestine" A Masterpiece by Kayhan Kalhor

"Symphony for Palestine"
A Masterpiece by the Iranian composer and kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor
Artistic director: Andrea Molino
Dresdner Sinfoniker with Mehri Asadullayeva (Kamancheh), Kamil Shajrawi (Arabic violin), Nermin Hasanova (Qanun), Emil Bishara (Oud), Maen Ghoul (Percussion). Ali Bahrami Fard (Bass Santour)

It is a long-cherished plan and an ongoing adventure: the Dresdner Sinfoniker will travel to Jerusalem and the West Bank at the end of May 2013 to perform the "Symphony for Palestine" by the Iranian composer Kayhan Kalhor together with Palestinian and Azerbaijani soloists.

The work is dedicated to Juliano Mer-Khamis, the murdered director of Jenin's Freedom Theatre, as well as to the eleven-year old boy Ahmed Khatib, shot dead in 2005 by an Israeli soldier, who mistook his water pistol for an armed weapon. His story went around the world, because his parents donated Ahmed's organs to five Israeli children.

Inspired by these tragic events, the great Iranian composer Kayhan Kalhor combined in the "Symphony for Palestine" classical Persian melodies and elements of Arabic folk music with the sound of a European string orchestra. The orchestral piece includes traditional oriental instruments such as Arabic violin, Oud, Kamancheh, Darbuka and Qanun.

For many years now, the Dresdner Sinfoniker have been strongly engaged with contemporary Oriental music and culture, and this ambitious project sees them musically in the role of mediators between Orient and Occident. Despite numerous obstacles they will travel to the West Bank and set a significant and unmistakable example for the unifying power of music with their "Symphony for Palestine".