West Bank Beethoven
January 10, 2008
Daniel Barenboim, the general musical director of the Berlin State Opera, announced he will travel to the West Bank to give a concert of Beethoven sonatas on Saturday, Jan. 12. The concert will benefit medical care for children in the Gaza Strip, according to the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden.
Barenboim's concert follows United States President George W. Bush's visit to Ramallah. Bush, the first US president to visit the West Bank city, spent Thursday meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas.
His three-day visit to the region was conceived to "nudge the [peace] process forward."
"I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office," Bush said at a joint press conference with Abbas.
Musical harmony
Barenboim believes music can be a vehicle to bring peace to the region.
"We will continue to play music for that," he said.
In Ramallah Barenboim will perform on a new grand piano an audience member from Berlin, who has died in the meantime, donated for his Ramallah concerts.
Barenboim is one of the founders of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra ("An Orchestra for Peace"). Started in 1999, it brings together 90 musicians from Europe, Israel and a number of Arab countries.
Barenboim lives in Berlin. He was born in Buenos Aires to parents of Jewish-Russian descent. At the age of 10 his family moved to Israel. He holds citizenship in Argentina, Israel and Spain. He is well-known for his criticism of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and is a strong supporter of Palestinian rights.
Last September he was nominated UN peace envoy by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.