all we have to do is listen.
polyphony (n) [puh-lif-uh-nee] The act of simultaneously combining a number of parts, each forming an individual melody and harmonizing with each other.
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this is what a better future sounds like
introduction Since 2011, Polyphony has been helping to create common ground through common sound. Arab and Jewish youth receive equal access to musical education and training of the highest caliber, with ongoing opportunities to learn, rehearse and perform together.
Through our holistic, multi-
tiered approach, young Israelis from diverse backgrounds are creating new possibilities for themselves, their families, their communities and their fellow musicians.
In the process, they are also obtaining a heightened
understanding of the social context and importance of music in society, and of their value as musicians, role models and ambassadors for promoting intercultural dialogue and reconciliation. The Polyphony Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization.
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our mission The Polyphony Foundation aims at bridging the divide between Arab and Jewish communities in Israel through music and to serve as a worldwide model for cooperation based on cultural exchange, dialogue and partnership.
who we serve Polyphony’s
multi-tiered
kindergarteners
up
program
through
reaches
emerging
out
to
professional
performers and the community-at-large. It includes music appreciation
curricula
for
children
from
kindergarten
through 6th grade, teacher training programs, explained symphonic orchestra,
concerts, a
conservatories,
professional
youth
seminars
and
orchestra and concert tours. As
students advance through the program, the level of interaction between Arab and Jewish students increases and they learn to better understand and appreciate music and one another. By partnering in Israel with governmental, regional and nonprofit organizations, Polyphony has been able to expand its program to annually reach over 10,000 students, train more than 200 kindergarten and elementary school teachers, give over 250 concerts annually and operate in 37 towns and cities from Akko in the North to Rahat in the South.
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“Polyphony is a ground-breaking organization using classical music to build bridges and foster peace between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel.”
Renêe Fleming,
Renowned Opera Singer & Polyphony Artistic Partner
Watch Renée's introductory video with Polyphony here.
our goals 1
To promote common understanding and inspire unity among diverse communities of Israel.
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Through a common passion for music and shared accomplishment, develop a cadre of future leaders committed to advancing civil society.
our partners Polyphony’s collaborations include organizations, educational institutions, and local and state entities in 37 different locations across the country. Among these partners are: The Ministry of Culture
Haifa Municipality
Zvulon Regional Council
The Ministry of Education
Akko Municipality
Houra Local Council
Keshet Eilon Music Center
The Minerva Institute for Humanity at Tel Aviv University The Institute for Social Integration at Bar Ilan University
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what we do and where Polyphony is the fastest growing music program in Israel. Founded in 2011 with music instruction to 105 students, Polyphony has grown exponentially, now reaching approximately 10,000 Jewish and Arab Israeli youth each year. It is having a dramatic and positive impact in the lives of the participants primarily through the following four programs:
Alhan Music Appreciation Program Alhan is a musical education curriculum for kindergartens up to 6th grade students. The program includes carefully chosen repertoire appropriate for both Arab and Jewish schools and includes music from both communities as well as classical music to introduce children to a multiplicity of cultures. The curriculum is developed in partnership with the Institute for Social Integration at Bar Ilan University. Educators from Jewish and Arab schools receive Alhan training together from Bar Ilan-Polyphony coaches and learn to integrate the program into their ongoing core classroom curriculum. Live chamber ensembles composed of both Jewish and Arab musicians perform during the school year for individual classrooms. The program concludes with a series of Explained Concerts that enable the students from both communities to experience jointly live symphonic performances of the music they have studied. In addition to the partnership with the Ministry of Education, Polyphony has developed strategic relationships with regional and local councils, highlights being the Zvulon Regional Council and the Haifa Municipality, which has led to the integration of 80 kindergartens and four elementary schools in the program. Since 2012, Alhan has grown to reach over 10,000 students annually, provides ongoing training and support for over 200 teachers, and is operating in 37 different locations from Acre in the North to Rahat in the South.
“Music is one of the way we can bridge perceived cultural divides that often times really aren’t related to culture at all-- they’re more related to politics and fear.” Brandford Marsalis, American Musician & Polyphony Artistic Partner See Polyphony perform at the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative here.
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Locations we operate
K. Eilon Acre
Haifa Nazareth Zvulon
1.
ABU SNAN
2.
ACRE
3.
AL MASHH'AD
4.
BU'EINA
5.
DEIR HANNA
6.
EBTTIN
7.
E'ILABOUN
8.
E'ILUTTE
9.
HAIFA
10. HURA
Hof Hasharon
11.
JUDAIDA - MAKIR
12. KABOOL Kafr Bara
13. KAFR BARA 14. KAFR CANNA 15. KFAR BIALIK
Tel Aviv Jaffa
16. KFAR HAMACCABIM 17. KFAR HANO'AR 18. KFAR HASIDEEM 19. KHAWALED 20. KIBUTZ Eilon 21. KIBUTZ YAGURE 22. KISRAH 23. MAGHAR 24. MAJD ELKROOM 25. NAHF 26. NAZARETH
Rahat
27. NUFIT Hura
28. ORANIM 29. OSHA 30. RAHAT 31. RAMAT YOHANAN 32. RAS A'LI 33. REINIE 34. SHA'AR HA'AMAKIM 35. TEL AVI -YAFO 36. TURA'AN 37. YAFEA' •
Hof Hasharon Regional Council
•
Zvulon - Regional Council
Jewish cities Arab cities
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“I am moved by the young musicians of Polyphony. They play at a very high level - together. Polyphony shows in a practical and beautiful way that Arab and Jewish youth are building an inclusive civic society in Israel.�
Zubin Mehta, Renowned Conductor &
Polyphony Supporter
Conservatories in Nazareth and Jaffa The Polyphony Conservatory in Nazareth and its affiliate conservatory in Jaffa is the first world-class conservatory in the Arab community in Israel, providing classical music instruction to approximately 150 of the country's most gifted youth. The Conservatory has succeeded in bringing classical music to the Arab community at unprecedented standards and plays an important role in the integration of classical music in the local Arab cultural scene. The Conservatory is a key element in the Polyphony program, enabling the shared music-making components of the ensembles, youth orchestra and the Galilee Chamber Orchestra. The faculty at the Polyphony Conservatories is composed of twenty-three leading young Israeli musicians and teachers from Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and Nazareth. A large number of the faculty members were trained in Europe and the U.S. and have played in renowned orchestras. Offering the highest level of instruction to auditioned students, the Polyphony Conservatories have nurtured many talented musicians. Two Polyphony graduates were the first Arab musicians to ever win the prestigious Israeli Paul Ben Haim Competition. Many more have gone on to world-class music academies such as Hans-Eisler in Berlin and Bart College in New York and are developing professional careers.
Scholar-In-Residence Seminar A masterclass on music and its role in society, the Seminars are emerging as one of Israel’s finest musical training programs. An equal cohort of young Arab and Jewish musicians come together for two four-day immersions that include intensive orchestral training culminating in a public concert, and discussions about music, citizenship and civil society with professors from leading universities in Israel and abroad. Top musicians of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and other leading European ensembles coach sectional and orchestral rehearsals. Together, the students, instructors, and lecturers build a shared community through genuine relationship-building and a sense of belonging to a greater Israeli and global culture. Students also form quartets and chamber ensembles that tour the United States and Europe and act as cultural ambassadors, giving concerts and sharing their experiences as musicians. Since its founding in 2012, Polyphony has conducted 10 seminars, each with 35-60 participants. In the last three years, partnerships with the Keshet Eilon Music Center and the Minerva Institute have broadened participation and strengthened the Polyphony community.
See more about the Scholar-inResidence program here. 9
46% Arab 54% Jewish
total students: 60
Galilee Chamber Orchestra The Galilee Chamber Orchestra broke ground as the first professional orchestra composed of Arab and Jewish musicians in Israel, and now has an international reputation resulting in invitations to music festivals around the world. Made up of approximately 35 Arab and Jewish musicians, the Orchestra performs six major concerts a year. Moved by Polyphony’s top-notch musicianship and vision for Arab and Jewish equality, world-famous musicians from Lynn Harrell to Sir Andras Schiff have performed with the Orchestra in Israel. Its impact extends throughout Israeli, bringing classical music to communities that would not otherwise be exposed to such world standard professional performances. Polyphony provides this multi-tiered educational programing in several cities and towns throughout Israel starting with children in kindergarten and moving the more talented students from beginner to professional performer through these five programs.
“Music cannot solve all the problems. But it does have a very special healing power. I believe in that."
overview
Sir Andras Schiff, British classical pianist and conductor & Polyphony Artistic Partner
Enrich cultural life in the Galilee
See CNN's coverage of Sir Andras Schiff performing with the Galilee Orchestra here.
Nurture local talent Galilee Chamber Orchestra
Galilee Youth Orchestra
Cultivate economic and cultural development in Nazareth
Scholar-in-Residence Seminars
Promote positive ArabJewish interaction
Mixed Ensembles
Provide professional opportunities for local musicians
Nazareth Conservatory Jaffa Conservatory
ALHAN Music Appreciation Program
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Public Concerts Explained Concerts
Develop youth leadership
music is a universal language
founders
Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar A graduate of Tel Aviv University in physics and music, Nabeel is a CoFounder and the Executive Director of Polyphony Education in Israel. He is also Director and Founder of the Polyphony Conservatory in Nazareth, formerly the Barenboim-Said Conservatory, and the Barenboim-Said Music Centre in Ramallah. He received the Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts for his Polyphony work in 2012
Craig Cogut Co-Founder and Chairman of the Polyphony Foundation Craig Cogut is the Founder and Chairman of Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private equity fund investing in businesses focused on resource scarcity and wellness. Craig is efforts that advance education and a civil society.
Deborah Cogut Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Polyphony Foundation, Deborah Cogut is a lawyer and civic leader involved in organizations focused on education and child advocacy. She currently serves as a member of the Children’s Defense Fund Board of Directors, Chair of the Children’s Defense Fund New York Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Children’s Hormone Foundation. She has also served as a volunteer for Project C.U.R.E. on medical aid missions to third world countries.
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voices of polyphony shaden nara, violinist Shaden, a violinist from Haifa, began his musical studies at age seven at the Rubin Conservatory.
Shaden
received
his
B.A.
in
Musical
Performance from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel-Aviv University, studying with Professor Hagai Shaham, with whom Shaden continues
to
study
privately. He has taken
master classes with Miriam Frid, Ani Schnarch, Giora Schmidt and Sergey Ostrovsky.
In
2007-2009,
Shaden
participated
in
the
Barenboim-Said Foundation music workshops in Beit Beit Jala and Ramallah. In 2011 he played with the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and won a prize for performing Mendelssohn’s violin
concerto
with
Haifa’s
Symphony
Orchestra. Shaden has toured the United States with Polyphony, performing as first violin. He is the first Arab graduate of Polyphony's programs to join the Conservatory's teaching staff.
nada awabdy, cellist Nada, who currently attends high school in Nazareth, started studying the cello at Polyphony’s Nazareth Conservatory when she seven years old.
Nada has participated in many musical educational tours around the world since 2013, including a one-week musical seminar in Belgium, one seminar in Germany and a musical summer camp in Italy.
In 2014 and 2017, she went on tour with Polyphony to the United States, performing with the Israeli singer David Broza. Nada most recently
performed with the Galilee Chamber Orchestra and special
guest Sir Andras Schiff. She also plays for thousands of schoolchildren through Polyphony’s Alhan Music Appreciation program.
See Polyphony Alumni performing at the 2017 Jewish Funders Network International Conference
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the board
Craig Cogut, Chair Pegasus Capital Advisors Deborah Cogut, Vice Chair Seth Novatt, Treasurer _____________ Timothy Jessell Greenberg Traurig LLP Helen W. Nitkin HB Nitkin Group Terry Tamminen Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Carlos Tome Tarisio Auctions LLC
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