Jerusalem, Israel – In 2023, we celebrate two significant jubilees, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel and the 700th anniversary of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. To mark these important events, we are featuring on May 18th, “Symphony from Jerusalem of the North” a contemporary symphony composed by Lithuanian composer Jievaras Jasinskis which will be performed by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra at the Jerusalem Theatre with guest musicians from Lithuania and Israel.
The concert is the final event of the “March of the Nations” conference in Jerusalem and will be attended by Israeli and Lithuanian leaders, foreign diplomats, Holocaust survivors, Litvaks, and people from many other nations who come to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel.
The concert will be conducted by Jievaras Jasinskis, and other artists who will perform including Rafailas Karpis, a tenor from Lithuania and Yaron Cherniak from Israel on the Persian Tar, Saz and Hurdy-Gurdy. Also from Lithuania are Tadas Daujotas and Viktorija Mišknytė on the shofar, Lauryna Labutytė – kankles, Arvydas Jankus-birybe, and Haroldas Parulis on the clarinet.
The project was conceived in 2021, on the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, by Jievaras Jasinskis and Tadas Daujotas to commemorate the history of Lithuanian Jews through an artistic prism and to honor the memory of the Litvaks who lived in Lithuania. The premiere of the symphony took place on the 23rd of September 2021, on the occasion of the National Memorial Day for the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews, in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania. The event was broadcast live on National TV.
The “Symphony from Jerusalem of the North” is a musical journey that takes the audience through time and acquaints them with the most important moments in the history of Israel and Lithuania. The one-hour contemporary symphony consists of 14 parts of instrumental music and one singing part – the Israeli national anthem, Hatikva, which commemorates the founding of the modern State of Israel in 1948.
The public institution “Prabudimo orkestras” (Revival Orchestra) is a non-governmental organization that aims to create cultural and artistic projects of lasting value by commemorating historical memory. The organization has worked closely with the international March of Life movement, the Jewish Community of Lithuania, the Kaunas Jewish Community, and The Secretariat of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania to make the event possible.
The “Symphony from Jerusalem of the North” concert is a significant initiative that celebrates the intertwined history of Lithuania and the Jewish people and serves as a reminder to stand against modern forms of antisemitism.
Link to purchase tickets in English: https://www.jso.co.il/en/concert/symphony-from-jerusalem-of-the-north-by-lithuanian-composer-jievaras-jasinskisis/