BWW Blog: David Bousso - My Experence with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

One of the great things about being a musician is the opportunity one gets to perform in various places around the world and the chance one gets to meet and interact with people from different places.

Since July of 2004 I have been a member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. The Orchestra is comprised of young musicians who come from Israel, The Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Spain. The Orchestra was founded by the Palestinian scholar Edward Said and Argentinean/Israeli Pianist and Conductor, Daniel Barenboim. The musicians who come from various places in the world assemble in Seville, Spain every summer where they come together to make music and share their views on the Arab/Israeli conflict. The dialogue that takes place between people having opposing views is the reason the orchestra exists. The musicians not only listen to each other playing great music, but they also get to listen to each other's narrative. By doing so, they are taking a step forward on an intellectual level sending a very powerful message against ignorance.

After intensive rehearsals in Seville, the orchestra embarks on an international tour. We have traveled throughout Europe, Asia, North, Central and South America performing in major halls and venues. We recently performed a complete cycle of the Beethoven Symphonies in Carnegie Hall. When traveling with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, I feel part of a family, not only because the musicians rehearse and perform together, but because we experience together for the first time the life and culture of unfamiliar places; it binds us and unites us as a family.

Maestro Barenboim has indicated that the destinies of the Arabs and Israelis are inextricably linked. The objective of the orchestra is not necessarily to achieve peace - music alone cannot bring peace - but to offer the opportunity for young people to listen to each other's narrative, which is a first step.

The orchestra has received great accolades from people worldwide, but it has also come under severe criticism, a sign that the orchestra must be doing something right. Until now, the orchestra has been able to perform everywhere around the globe, except in the countries represented by the musicians where this project has not been popular, and where it has not been invited to perform. Maestro Barenboim has been quoted saying that the project will come to full fruition when the orchestra will be allowed to perform in the countries represented by the musicians.

On one of the tours, however, a very quick-in-and-out performance took place in Ramallah. In order to get to Ramallah, our family had to split; some of us entered Ramallah through Jordan and others entered through Israel. The performance, which took place under heavy security, was received with mixed acclaim and criticism.

In the meantime, all the musicians in the orchestra focus on playing music on the highest level. As a result of these efforts, the West Eastern Divan Orchestra has been rated as one of the top five youth orchestras in the world.

I look forward to our next concert in Salzburg coming up in May 2013.

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