Piyyut Festival 2012: World Premiere of Jerusalem Makam at the Tower of David Museum (September 6 and 8, 2012)

Beit Avi Chai’s Piyyut Festival returns to Jerusalem for the fifth year straight. This year’s festival will take place at Beit Avi Chai and other venues around Jerusalem from September 10-13, 2012, and will focus on the piyyut and prayer traditions that developed in the complex shared arena of Jewish-Arab culture, both past and present.

“Jerusalem Makam”: World premiere – The New Jerusalem Orchestra – A polyphonic musical fantasy

Concept and Artistic Direction: Yair Harel and Omer Avital

“Makam Jerusalem” is a fantastic journey between musical cultures to the new sound and the old-new and audacious Israeli tradition.

An amazing Israeli cycle of melodies and arrangements with an ensemble of 18 instrumentalists, vocalists, and a choir of paytanim, who perform songs of nostalgia and yearning for the Heavenly Jerusalem and the Earthly Jerusalem, in various languages.

Musical Direction, original compositions, arranger, and conductor: Omer Avital

Research and Editing: Yair Harel / Management: Barak Weiss

Additional composers and arrangers:

Rabbi David Menahem, Piris Eliyahu, Itamar Borochov, Re’ii Hagai, Elad Levi, Rafi Malkiel

Vocalists: Lubna Salame, Chaya Samir, Abeta Brihun, Maimon Cohen, Yochai Cohen, Yair Harel

Omer Avital-double bass / Guitar: Nadav Remez

Winds: Itamar Borochov-trumpet, Rafi Malkiel-trombone, Matan Chapnitzky-saxophone

String Quartet: Yonatan Keren and Avner Kelmer-violin; Galia Chai-viola; Hila Epstein-cello

Classical Oriental Ensemble: Elad Levi-kamancha, Elad Gabbay-qanoun, Yaniv Rabbah-oud, Tzachi Ventura-ney, Mark Eliyahu-kamancha and saz, Piris Eliyahu-tar

Percussion: Yochai Cohen, Roni Ivrin and Yair Harel

Chorus: The Piyyut Ensemble of the Ben-Zvi Institute Directed by Yair Harel, Choral director: Abraham Cohen

Stage Consultant: Dafna Karon; video: Kobi Levi and Uri Sukhri; writing and text editing: Almog Behar; lighting: Felice Ross; sound: Uri Barak; executive producer: Sigal Streier; technical director: Nissim Sheizaf