Israeli-Arab music ensemble Shesh Besh is coming to the UK

Music lovers in London and Oxford are in for a rare treat next month with a visit to the UK of the Shesh Besh ensemble of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, for the first time since 2009.

The six musicians — all close friends as well as colleagues — comprise three Jewish Israelis, who are also IPO members, and three Arab Israelis, two of whom are professors at the Jerusalem Music Academy.

Boaz Meirovitch is on flute, Gilad Rivkin is on violin and Michael Maroun is on oud, while Sami Kheshaiboun plays violin, Uri Arbel plays double bass and Aziz Naddaf is on percussion.

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Boaz, who has been with the ensemble for 12 years, explains that Shesh Besh was founded 26 years ago, and their visit to the UK coincides with celebrations of the orchestra’s 90th anniversary.

So why ‘Shesh Besh’? It’s a wildly popular board game across the Mediterranean, played by Jews, Arabs and Christians, and perhaps more familiar in the UK as backgammon. “We play a lot,” says Meirovitch. “It’s extremely popular, and we want what we do to be like the game — to act as a bridge between populations and illustrate that it really doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from — it’s music which brings us together.”

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The three Israeli Jews — Meirovitch, Gilad Rivkin and Uri Arbel — are all members of the main IPO and have vast experience in playing classical, or ‘Western’ music. Their Arab partners are steeped in ‘Eastern’ music, which is popular throughout the region, playing typical instruments such as the oud, with the addition of driving percussion.

But what is fascinating about Shesh Besh is that even classical Western music, from composers such as Bach or Mozart, have been given a Mediterranean twist, and one senses that the ‘traditional’ musicians relish the challenge of playing something a touch different — from both perspectives.

“We have a basic structure of pieces that we play everywhere”, says Meirovitch, “and then we add pieces according to the places that we go.” In Oxford, he says, where Shesh Besh are appearing at Pembroke College, they have come up with an intriguing-sounding arrangement of a Beatles song — though he won’t tell me which one as they want it to be a surprise.

For their version of Mozart’s Symphony 40, the group has come up with a “mash-up” with a well-known song by the Lebanese female singer Fairuz, one of the most celebrated vocalists in the Arab world. All the arrangements are done by the group, with double bass player Uri Arbel and violinist Sami Kheshaiboun working together to meld each other’s traditions. “So we have an Austrian composer, a Lebanese singer, and all instruments played by Jews and Arabs”.

During their visit Shesh Besh will make a guest appearance on BBC Radio Three’s breakfast programme, and will also be entertaining pupils with music workshops at a number of Jewish schools.

The group, says Meirovitch, is well aware of the potentially hostile climate that might surround their visit, but he is optimistic that Shesh Besh’s positive message can paint a different picture of the way in which Arab and Jewish Israelis live and work together.

To see Shesh Besh in London or Oxford on 9,10 and 11 November visit ipofoundationuk.com