In the summer of 1999, Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said invited young musicians from Israel and Palestine to Weimar, then the European Capital of Culture. What was intended as a single workshop has become a fixture of the international music scene: for more than 25 years, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has brought its message of dialogue and understanding to places around the world. Over time, the foundational idea kept expanding and taking on new identities. Since 2008, the Daniel Barenboim Stiftung in Berlin has been the umbrella organization for the orchestra, the Barenboim-Said Akademie, which offers a curriculum of musical performance and the Humanities to approximately 90 students primarily from the Middle East and Northern Africa, and the Pierre Boulez Saal, which opened in 2017. At the Barenboim-Said Center for Music in Ramallah, another of the Stiftung’s projects, young Palestinians receive a musical education in preparation for further studies at professional conservatories. As early as 2004, the independent Fundación Barenboim-Said was established in Seville, Spain, where the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was based during its early years. It equally offers multiple study programs. The work of both foundations is guided by the idea of “Education through Music.”

This year’s inaugural West-Eastern Divan Festival brings all of these institutions together—and makes them part of the diverse cultural landscape of Berlin. For one week, internationally renowned artists who have long been closely associated with the individual projects and their missions, are joined by students and acclaimed guests to present ten concerts at different venues across the city. From great symphonic works and chamber music of the Classical and Romantic era to recent compositions and music of our time, to electronics and improvisation, the festival program spans a wide stylistic spectrum. It opens with Daniel Barenboim leading the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Philharmonie Berlin.