March 20, 2007: Concert for Dafur

Chartiy Concert with Daniel Barenboim and the Musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Photographs (from top to bottom):
Daniel Barenboim
© Warner Music
Nabil Shehata, principal double bass of the Berlin Philharmonic, at the Jewish Museum Berlin, November 2006
© eventfotografen.de, Berlin-Basel

As part of the campaign week "Darfur: Crimes Against Humanity," the Jewish Museum in cooperation with Human Rights Watch cordially invites you to a musical highlight: Daniel Barenboim and the muscians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra will play Franz Schubert's "Trout Quintet." The evening will commence with a welcome address by S.E. Eugène-Richard Gasana, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda, who will describe the conflict in Darfur from the Rwandan perpective. The entire proceeds of the evening will benefit relief projects in Darfur by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. Board Member, Tankred Stöbe, will report on their projects in the region.

Daniel Barenboim

Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires in 1942 to parents of Jewish Russian descent. He gave his first official concert in Buenos Aires at the age of just seven years. The Barenboim family moved to Israel in 1952. An unparalleled career as pianist and conductor began: His début as a pianist was made in Vienna and Rome in the early 1950s and followed by concerts in Paris, London, and New York. His concert tours and numerous recordings brought him international fame as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. Since his début as conductor with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in London in 1967, he has been in great demand with all the leading European and American symphony orchestras. He conducted at the Bayreuth Festival from 1981 to 1999 and was Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1991 to June 2006. In 1992, he became General Music Director of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and in the autumn of 2000, the Staatskapelle Berlin appointed him Chief Conductor for Life.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

In 1999, Daniel Barenboim and the now deceased Palestinian literary scholar Edward Said founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brought young musicians from Israel and the Arab States together every summer. The objective was to foster dialogue between the different cultures of the Middle East through the experience of making music together and so contribute towards reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2006, the Jewish Museum Berlin honored Daniel Barenboim with the "Award for Understanding and Tolerance" for his commitment to this cause.

The "Trout Quintet"

Composed by Franz Schubert in 1819, the Quintet A major o. post. 114, D 667 became popularly known as the "Trout Quintet" because the fourth movement is a set of variations on Schubert's earlier lied "Die Forelle" (The Trout). The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra will interpret the approximately 45-minute piece at the Jewish Museum Berlin. Daniel Barenboim will play the piano, Michael Barenboim the violin, Amihai Grosz the viola, Kyril Zlotnikov the cello, and Nabil Shehata the double bass.

When: Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Where: Jewish Museum Berlin, Old Building, 2nd level, Concert Hall, Lindenstr. 9-14, 10969 Berlin Admission: 20 euros (standard price: all proceeds will benefit relief projects in Darfur by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières)
Ticket reservation: ticket office of the Jewish Museum Berlin, tel. +49 (0)30 259 93 454