Shesh Besh at Temple Church

Sami Khashiboun: oriental violin
Saida Bar-Lev: violin and viola
Yossi Arnheim: flute
Alfred Hajjar: ney
Ramsis Kasis: oud
Bishara Naddaf: deff, darbuka
Peter Marck: double bass
Reham Hamadiuest vocalist

Temple Church, London 4 November 2009

A special event had London's historic Temple Church hosting an internationally active and influential movement for "tolerance and mutual respect" between Israel's Jewish and Arab comunities, initiated by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's education department.

A large audience enjoyed an intermingling of musics from the two traditions, classical Western and classical Arabian. A high point was a Fantasy on Saint-Saens' Samson & Delilah in which ney, kamanja, deff & and Darbuka drum joined with members of the Israel Philharmonic to deliciously exotic effect.

This initiative, albeit smaller in scale than Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, is active in Israel's schools, an important agent for promoting inter-racial harmony and understanding.

Shesh Besh has an unique and highly recommendable CD Collective Memory featuring compositions from composers of both communities.

Peter Grahame Woolf