Music : Isreal

Music became an organized facet of Israeli culture after World War I, when enthusiastic amateur and professional musicians assembled chamber groups, a symphony orchestra, an opera company, and a choral society. During the 1930s, with the rise of Nazism in Europe, hundreds of Jewish music teachers, students, composers, instrumentalists and singers, and thousands of music lovers, streamed into the country. This influx spurred the formation of music schools, the Palestine Symphony in 1936 (today the internationally acclaimed Israel Philharmonic Orchestra), and the formation of a radio orchestra (currently the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra of the Israel Broadcasting Service).

These professional organizations have been joined by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra (Tel Aviv), and others. Major choral groups include the Tel Aviv Choir and the Rinat Choir. Seasonal music activities from October into July are held in such varied settings as the historic Crusader Castle at Akko to the modem, 3000-seat Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.

Israeli popular music started emerging from its folk-chant origins (often echoing Russian folk melodies) in the late 1960s, with the coming of age of Israeli musicians attuned to international influences from jazz to bossa nova to the Beatles. Some, like Yoni Rechtcr and Matti Caspi, took a more mellow direction, creating unique, sophisticated tunes that have since become Israeli classics. Others, like Shalom Hanokh and Kaveret, Israel’s first real rock’n'roll band, went for more straight-forward rock music. Since the 1970s, Israel has been catching up with the pace of international music fashions; local bands momentarily lingered on punk, reggae, heavy metal, grunge, and even rap. MTV now keeps Israeli youth abreast of the goings on in London and Seattle clubs, and they expect nothing less of their own Mashina Israel hub of the cutting-edge music scene in Israel.

Mashina, Israel’s longest-lasting rock band, moved from tight tunes and playful lyr to experiment with new, harder-edged sounds. Etnix has perfected a block-"ster formula combining dance music and Middle Eastern motifs. Still, the most .

popular performers in Israel (such as Shlomo Artzi and Yehuda Poliker) play music that’s somewhere in between kick-butt rock and a more mellow, acoustic sound. In many places in Israel you can hear simple Middle Eastern-style tunes, heavy on synthesizers and drum machines, blasting from car stereos and boomboxes: this is muz-ika mizrahit ("oriental music"), very popular with many Sephardi Jews.