A world-class music group from Israel that strengthens links between Arabs and Jews with a mixed repertoire of Middle Eastern and Western music is set to perform in Britain for the first time in 17 years.
“We are sure that by bringing such a great ensemble, such a great group of Arabs and Jews who are all Israelis, we can show the beautiful side of our country,” says flautist Boaz Meirovich.
Shesh Besh – Hebrew for the board game backgammon – is the title of the Arab-Jewish ensemble of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, founded 26 years ago. It plays a repertoire of classical music from both traditions, hoping to fortify dialogue through the power of music to connect people.
An offshoot of the main orchestra, the band was established with an educational purpose, says Meirovich. “The idea was that the group would perform in Arab schools and Jewish schools, and that it would be kind of a bridge that would bring together Arabs and Jews through the music to try and understand each other, and to try and live a better life together.”
Twenty-one per cent of Israeli citizens define themselves as Arab or Palestinian, whether Muslim or Christian. They have full and equal civil rights, and Christian Arabs are the most successful economic group in Israel by some margin, but Arab and Jewish communities often have separate housing, education and social lives.
Shesh Besh has six members– flautist Meirovich, violinist Gilad Rivkin, double bass player Uri Arbel, violinist Sami Kheshaiboun, percussionist Aziz Nadaf, and on the oud – a pear-shaped fretless stringed instrument that has been compared to the old English lute – Michael Maroun. Kheshaiboun and Maroun are also both professors at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
The group visits elementary schools which in Israel go up to 12 years of age, equivalent to British primaries. Beginning with a performance in the classroom, they then teach the Arab children to sing Jewish songs and the Jewish children to sing Arab songs.
The children are surprised by what they experience, says Meirovich, “and they are fascinated by the music.
“I think the best part is the final concert we have in a big auditorium in which we bring together the Arab schools and the Jewish schools. And what is the most fascinating thing is to see the Arab children together with the Jewish Israelis singing Hebrew songs, and to see the Jewish Israelis singing an Arabic song with the Arab Israelis. This is what is so amazing, to see the music combining together: Arab Israelis and Jews, we are all like one.”
Success of the venture always depends on careful groundwork, says Meirovich. “You have to prepare them so they can, think together, be together, live together, and talk to each other also.”
But it is hoped that the experience also fosters genuine one-to-one friendships between the children from the two different communities. “No one knows what it can create but for sure, from the feedback that we get from the teachers of these schools, we are doing something that is extraordinary.”
Meirovitch, who studied music in Tel Aviv and Boston and has been a member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for 27 years, concedes that there has been some suspicion about their work in the three years since October 7.
“Artistically, of course, we are fighting to keep doing what we are doing.” But he says, with the election this week, “change is in the air.”
He believes that after Israel’s war on Hamas on Gaza and on Iran, Israeli society is shifting, “There is more desire from the Arab population to be more equal, to say “Yes, we are Israelis. We like living in Israel.”
He also believes art and culture can forge change where politics cannot, “because when we go to schools, when I meet and talk with the teachers, we do not talk politics. I don't care about politics. I want to show them the nice side of Israeli music, Jewish music, and also classical music.”
Hearing the classical repertoire is a new, inspiring experience for children from both communities. “Neither Jewish nor Arab kids are being exposed to classical music. They don't go home and say let's listen to Mozart when they are like seven, eight, or nine years old.”
On the trip to the UK, Shesh Besh will be performing concerts in London and Oxford, hosted by the Israel Philharmonic Foundation UK. It will be a busy few days, the mornings taken up with workshops in Jewish schools around the capital.
The concert programme includes work by Mozart, Bach and Bizet, alongside music “with a Mediterranean flavour” traditional Arab pieces and Israeli songs, as well as music by Muhamed Abdul Wahad, an Egyptian singer, composer and actor said to have transformed Arabic music by blending eastern forms with western orchestration an instruments. There are also original pieces composed by ensemble member Kheshaiboun.
For Meirovitch, joining the ensemble 12 years ago was transformative, and he feels it has made him into a better artist overall, “because it gives you a bigger spectrum in which to be a musician.
“Talking to the Arab players, they open you up to an unbelievable world that you didn't know.” Western music is based on major and minor key scales, he explains, “This is how it has been for 400 years - Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven all used major and minor.
“In Middle Eastern or Arabic music, you have over 200 scales, which is a mind blower. This is something that was completely new to me.” Unlike western classical music, the Arabic tradition also includes a great deal of free improvisation, more like we might experience in modern jazz.
The last time the ensemble played in the UK was 2009, when aside from the concert programme they gave a live recital on BBC Radio 3. The human composition of the group has completely changed since then.
The other big change today is the insidious Jew-hate that is now the norm in the arts world. Taking on a foreign tour requires, surely, a degree of fortitude.
“I don't think we are brave”, replies Meirovitch, “I think it's a necessity. We must do it. We must come. We must play. We must show that talking about Israel as an apartheid country is absolute rubbish.”
But he adds, “We are very optimistic and I think it's a great time to come to perform in the UK.”
Shesh Besh will be performing in central Oxford and central London on November 9, November 10 and November 11. Ticket holders will be notified of venue 48 hours in advance
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