Jerusalem Orchestra East & West brings the Barbican to life

The Barbican was a riot of colourful sound last night as the Jerusalem Orchestra East & West took to the stage for an inaugural appearance in London. Comprising Jewish, Muslim and Christian musicians, the important goal of this group of highly talented artists is to transcend religious and political division in Israel and beyond.

Founder-conductor Tom Cohen has a unique ability to be able to transfer the music of Arab and North African countries to musicians from a Western classical background – and vice versa; his style has become known as ‘Levant music’. He writes all the musical arrangements himself, synthesising classical, jazz and, for the London concert, Moroccan tribal music known as gnawa, which Cohen says is “the most complex simple music in the world.”

He told the audience, including Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely: “The one thing that we share is love and we will do our best to show you this love tonight. We hope you’ll be able to feel it and that you come out of the concert with more love than you came with inside.”

Lasting almost one and a half hours, this high energy concert had everyone on their feet dancing by the end. Moroccan singer and instrumentalist Mehdi Nassouli played on his three-stringed gimbri, accompanied by two musicians on qraqebs (castanets) and a full orchestra playing more classical instruments, including a truly outstanding pianist, Omri Mor.