by Gaia Regoli
On July 18th, the Henry Crown Hall of the Jerusalem Theatre was filled with young performers and music lovers of all ages. In fact, this evening was dedicated to the amazingly talented Jerusalem Music Centre’s (JMC) Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (YIPO), which comprises classic musicians between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Jerusalem was only the second stop of the YIPO’s summer concert, as they first performed in Haifa on July 17thand then in Tel Aviv on July 19th.
Lahav Shani played both the role of pianist and conductor in three masterpieces: Bach’s concerto no. 1 in D minor for piano and orchestra, Prokofiev’s excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and Brahms’ Symphony no. 1. For the whole concert, he never had any musical score in front of him, hence he was directing the orchestra by drawing from his own memory: impressive.
In my opinion, the whole performance was astonishing, even though Prokofiev was for me more intense and involving when compared to the other pieces.
The Jerusalem Music Centre is a fundamental institution for the musical culture of Jerusalem, and for the whole country as well. It shares values of collaboration between the students as well as the personal expression of the individual through the passion for music.