Daniel Barenboim

Musician Michael Barenboim on Gaza

"Nothing justifies genocide"

Violinist Michael Barenboim, leader of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, calls for an arms embargo against Israel and argues that the German media has failed in its responsibilities. He tells Qantara how he balances art and activism.
Dialogue in the shadow of war

Music unites Israelis and Palestinians in Berlin

At the Barenboim-Said Academy in the German capital, young Israeli and Arab musicians study together. The Hamas attacks on Israel happened just before the start of a new semester. What has been their reaction?
Germany's Beethovenfest

Afghan and Iranian musicians join forces

Musicians from Afghanistan, Iran and Germany have come together to work on Bonn's Beethovenfest Campus Project 2023. The result can be heard on 14 September. By Anastassia Boutsko
Edward W. Said Days in Berlin: The legacy of a visionary bridge-builder

With this year's "Edward Said Days" marking the 20th anniversary of the death of the Palestinian-American literary scholar, the Berlin Barenboim-Said Academie and the Pierre Boulez Hall opened their 2023/24 season on 26 August 2023. By Ceyda Nurtsch
Edward W. Said Days in Berlin

Music – facilitator of intercultural dialogue

How can Edward Said's ideas help people better understand Yoko Ono's performance art, pre-colonial rhythms from Africa or the music of Christian missionaries in Japan? The Edward W. Said Days in Berlin marking 20 years since the literary scholar's death explored a whole range of questions. Ceyda Nurtsch reports
Israeli director Ofira Henig

"We don’t give any answers, we ask questions"

A leading light of Israeli theatre, Ofir Henig has directed the Israel Festival and is the only female director to have been awarded the Israel Theatre Prize. These days, however, she rarely works in her home country. By Ceyda Nurtsch
Berlin's "A New Divan"

Goethe's enduring vision of cultural dialogue

In his "West-Eastern Divan" published 200 years ago, Goethe promoted the idea of cultural proximity between Orient and Occident. The festival "A New Divan" in Berlin aimed at revisiting his idea. By Grzegorz Szymanowski
Music festival on the Greek island of Chios

Opportunities for reflection

An inspirational idea from a violinist and a composer has led to the establishment of a new music festival on the Greek island of Chios. Their idea is to help build bridges between refugees and islanders – and maybe make the hard winter a little easier to bear. By Astrid Kaminski
Inauguration of the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin

"Music for the Thinking Ear"

The Pierre Boulez Hall of the new Barenboim-Said Akademie celebrated its grand opening in early March in the centre of Berlin. Sonja Hegasy attended the opening concert
The Barenboim-Said Academy

Barenboim′s 'new medicine'

The conductor Daniel Barenboim has been bringing musicians from Israel and Arab countries together for many years. Due to open in the autumn, his academy in Berlin will allow them to develop their musical skills – as well as some new initiatives for peace. Interview by Gero Schliess
Interview with oboist Demetrios Karamintzas

"These children deserve the same opportunities as children anywhere else"

Demetrios Karamintzas studied music at the Julliard School of Music in New York and is a professional oboist. Having worked with Daniel Barenboim's Barenboim-Said Foundation and the Al Kamandjati Music Schools in Palestine, he recently volunteered to teach at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul. Ceyda Nurtsch talked to him about teaching music amid poverty and terror attacks
Commentary by Daniel Barenboim

Perhaps the Last Chance

In this commentary, pianist and star conductor Daniel Barenboim writes that the fact that Palestine was recently awarded non-member observer state status by the United Nations could be the last chance to breathe life into the two-state project in the Middle East