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The Week in Germany: Culture

December 15, 2006

Barenboim’s Arab-Israeli Youth Orchestra to Serenade Annan at UN Send Off

Daniel Barenboim, the globetrotting director of the Berliner Staatsoper, is bringing his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to New York on December 18 to give UN secretary general Kofi Annan a befitting send off as he leaves his post.

Barenboim with the West-Eastern Divan in Weimar

The orchestra, which unites young Arab and Israeli musicians in Spain each summer for workshops, was born of a chance meeting between Barenboim and the late Palestinian scholar Edward Said in a London hotel lobby in 1998. Barenboim, an Israeli by nationality, took the first step toward realizing his and Said’s common vision of Arab-Israeli cooperation by performing in the West Bank in 1999.

After two years of preparation, the Arab-Israeli youth orchestra’s first workshop took place in 2001 in the then European Capital of Culture, Weimar.

Kofi Annan leaves the UN after two terms on Dec. 31

At Annan’s farewell, the West-Eastern Divan orchestra will perform Mozart’s Symphony for Oboe, Clarinette, and Basoon as well as Johannes Brahms first Symphony.

Before heading to New York, the cross-cultural orchestra will also visit Brown University from December 14 through 16, where it will participate in public discussions, workshops, and a free concert.

When Annan’s term at the UN ends on December 31, he will be succeeded by the South Korean Ban Ki Moon.

Links:

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Schedule of Events at Brown University

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