American Friends of Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” – Leonard Bernstein  The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (JSO) was originally established as “Kol Israel (Voice of Israel) Orchestra” in 1938. Since then, the JSO has become the musical heartbeat of Israel’s holiest city. Among the legends who performed with JSO are Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Rubinstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern, Krzysztof Penderecki, Yo-Yo Ma, and Yefim Bronfman. Our artistic choices are modern, multicultural and innovative, while our community work is heartfelt and important not just to the state of Israel, but to Jews and Israel supporters all over the world. After the October 7th Holocaust, we selflessly devoted ourselves to uniting and healing our multi-creed and multi-ethnic motherland through music.  Here are just a few examples of our most recent work: In October-November 2023, JSO held 13 concerts for the evacuees and residents of Jerusalem. JSO is one of the few organizations which continued to perform at the times of attacks, often during non-stop sirens.  • JSO brings together Jewish and Muslim conservatory students of East Jerusalem to perform together at its home - the Jerusalem Theater.  This program is led by Arab conductor Nizar Elkhater. (https://www.nizarelkhater.com/about) • Ofer Amsalem, JSO’s CEO, personally reached out to the hotels hosting displaced Israelis to distribute free concert tickets.  • Supported by the Ministry of Education, JSO's top musicians joined forces with Israel public schools to help children (ages 6-12) learn about classical music and experience orchestra performances.  This program positively impacted 25,000 children.  • In March of 2024, JSO  held the deeply moving première of the orchestral version of Jeruz, a musical composition written by Jerusalem native, hero and martyr, Aner Shapiro, murdered on October 7.  Aner Shapiro’s family was honored on stage.  We have always prided ourselves on being the musical ambassadors for Jerusalem and Israel. Today, as Israel is often absurdly accused of being an apartheid nation, which has ignited the scale of antisemitism the world has not seen in decades, our work is more important than ever. Through music we have the power to unite, heal, and spread light, one note at a time.  Join us in our mission to help JSO continue their essential peacemaking, educational, community and cultural ambassador work: become an American Friend of Jerusalem Symphony today!