For three summer evenings, music filled the air on the roof of Mishkenot Sha’ananim, as artists and audiences gathered under the open sky for the fifth annual The Jerusalem Music Centre Rooftop Festival. Each of the three scheduled concerts was fully booked, and due to high demand, an additional performance was added on the final evening.
At the heart of the festival is a meaningful connection between the Bavarian State Chancellery, Germany and Jerusalem. Through its generous support to the Jerusalem Foundation, the festival creates a meeting place for different musical traditions, cultures and voices in the city.
The festival opened with Jerusalem’s Marsh Dondurma, celebrating the release of its new album, Maybe Someday. The sixteen musicians brought the rooftop to life with an energetic mix of Mediterranean sounds, New Orleans brass, Yemenite rhythms, klezmer melodies and funk.
The following evening, Yagel Haroush and his ensemble presented Songs in the Light of Night. Moving between Jewish liturgical song and Hebrew poetry, tradition and renewal, memory and hope, the performance accompanied the city as evening slowly turned to night.
The festival concluded with a musical encounter between Israel and Germany. The Jerusalem Street Orchestra welcomed German violin soloists Georg Pfirsch and Klément Kourtin, alongside Gilad Hildesheim and Mark Karlinsky. The musicians came together for Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Concerto for Four Violins.
Across languages, traditions and borders, music has the power to bring people together. The Festival gave this connection a voice, creating shared moments of beauty, creativity and hope in this iconic location in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Foundation is deeply grateful to the Bavarian State Chancellery for its generous partnership and continued support of Jerusalem’s cultural life.
