תכניית העונה ה-82 של הסימפונית ירושלים / JSO - 82nd Season Programme

Dear audience in Jerusalem and throughout the country, The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra will mark its 82nd concert season this year, but despite the "mature" age, the orchestra is celebrating renewal and rejuvenation.

First, we face an exchange of musical directors this year. FrĂŠdĂŠric Chaslin, our French-Jewish conductor, is retiring after eight seasons of rewarding musical management. In these eight seasons he elevated the orchestra to the highest musical level. This is our opportunity to recognize and thank him for his wonderful musical achievements.

Conductor Steven Sloane has been chosen as the Music Director. Sloane, originally from California, made aliyah to Israel in the 1980s and worked here for several years. Afterward he traveled to Europe and built a magnificent career centered on the establishment of a symphony orchestra and a huge cultural and music hall in Bochum, Germany. He waves his musical management baton creating many new ideas, which you will see in the coming seasons, and with a desire to make the orchestra even better and more contemporary. We wish him great success and we place great hopes on his leadership.

Alongside the exchange of musical directors, we continue with the exchange of generations among the orchestra's musicians. A sizable number of veteran musicians are retiring, and we have recruited talented young Israeli musicians. You can see young and fresh faces in the composition of all groups of instruments in the orchestra. These wonderful young Israeli musicians give us much hope for the future.

Among the conductors who will join us this season, Kolja Blacher, Olli Mustonen, David JimĂŠnez, Ruben Gazarian, David Greilsammer, Nimrod David Pfeffer and Yaron Gottfried are all making a returned appearance.

Some of our favorite soloists will also be playing with us: Shlomo Mintz, Sergey Ostrovsky, Arie Vardi, Hila Baggio, Andrew von Oeyen, Dmitry Yablonsky, Shlomo Gronich and many others. Of course both outgoing and incoming Music Directors will conduct a series of concerts each. And more good news: We are bringing back our beloved vocal series this year with the participation of choirs and soloists from Israel and abroad, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Opera and the Israel Festival.

In short, we expect to have a lively and fascinating season, in which we will continue the tradition of playing Israeli works in order to encourage Israeli artists and performers; we see this as a professional duty to provide them a platform and support for their original work.

I would like to take this opportunity to give heartfelt thanks to our music advisor, Gideon Paz, for his help in assembling the concert program and thanks to our composer-in-residence, Aviya Kopelman for her contribution in encouraging Israeli creativity.

I wish all of us a pleasurable and enjoyable season. We will be happy to see you at the Henry Crown Symphony Hall and in halls around the country.

Yair Stern, Director General