The Jerusalem Music Centre, led by its president, the legendary pianist Murray Perahia, is the leading organization in Israel in promoting and nurturing outstanding young musicians. The Music Centre, internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading institutions in the field, was established in Jerusalem in 1973 by Yad Hanadiv and the Jerusalem Foundation, inspired by the vision of the legendary violinist Isaac Stern. The Centre was established with the goal of nurturing outstanding young musicians in Israel, while establishing itself as a musical center in Jerusalem, to which leading artists from Israel and the world have come over the years, performing in the Israeli capital the best of the classical repertoire that has enriched our world for many generations.
In its early years, the Music Center hosted the renowned pianist Arthur Rubinstein, cellist Pablo Casals, violinist Isaac Stern, flutist Jean-Pierre Rempal, the Guarneri Quartet, and many more of the most important and influential artists in the world of classical music. We continue this tradition and in recent years, pianist Yevgeny Kissin, cellist Misha Maisky, violinist Tabea Zimmerman, the Jerusalem Quartet, the Belcea Quartet and other prominent international soloists and ensembles have come to Jerusalem and performed in unforgettable concerts.
The President of the Jerusalem Music Centre, Maestro Murray Perahia, one of the greatest pianists of our time, leads the center for the study and deepening of the important values in the field of classical music. The centre is in contact with important teachers in Israel and around the world who come regularly to work with the young students. In this way, continuous and permanent encounters of world greats with outstanding young musicians in Israel are created. The Music Centre’s education program serves as the official program of the State of Israel for gifted and outstanding musicians.
The Music Centre works in close collaboration with instrument teachers of young musicians and their parents, the conservatories and schools’ music departments, and with the Ministry of Education – the Pedagogical Secretariat, the Supervision of Musical Education and the Gifted students Division. The young musicians participate in master classes, the courses of the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and in programs for singers, pianists, young string players and the Goldman Chamber Music Program.
Over the years, thousands of young musicians have taken part in the activities of the Music Centre. Our graduates have had a decisive influence and contribution to the conservatories, academies and the music audience in Israel. Many of the players of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as well as leading players in other orchestras, in Israel and abroad, are graduates of the Jerusalem Music Centre. Among our graduates are quite a few important musicians with international careers, including pianist Yefim Bronfman, violinists Gil Shaham, Hagai Shaham, Guy Brounstein and Itamar Zorman, conductor Lahav Shani, the Jerusalem Quartet, cellist Zvika Plesser, clarinetist Sharon Kam, pianist Yoav Levanon and many others.
The Music Centre is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation, Yad Hanadiv, the Goldman family, the Azrieli Foundation, the Sano Company, the Eli and Dalia Hurvitz Foundation, Brigadier General (res.) Nehemia Dagan, international foundations and a wide circle of friends and supporters from Israel and around the world.
The partnerships created over the years help us lead young musicians in Israel to realize their abilities and strengthen the position of the State of Israel as one of the leading countries in the world in the field of classical music.
