Lessons in Harmony

Against the backdrop of escalating violence in the Middle East, Daniel Barenboim's project has lost none of its topicality: in the summer of 1999, the world-famous musician founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in the classical city of Weimar. This ensemble, renowned the world over, consists of 40 musicians from Israel, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Germany. For the first time ever, Arab, Palestinian and Jewish young people sat side by side, performing great works of the classical repertoire under conductor Daniel Barenboim. The world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma and writer Edward Said were among the prominent guests. In August 2002, the Spanish city of Seville was the site of the fourth workshop of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. In the south of Spain, medieval Jews, Arabs and Spaniards once demonstrated that peaceful coexistence was possible. Three years after the Weimar workshop, many questions are raised: What has remained from the first encounters? What friendships and contacts have survived? How do the participants view the current situation? Did the joint event change anything? Lessons in Harmony shows how the young workshop participants, who would not be allowed to perform side by side in their home regions, draw closer together. It illustrates how prejudices are surmounted during the rehearsals, the joint concert and the laid-back celebrations afterward. It also demonstrates what problems crop up and how music can help people of different views find common ground. When the musicians return to their home regions, a reality awaits them there that has nothing to do with the workshop. Daniel Barenboim says: "We are making contact here, as a preliminary step toward freedom. If God forbid a terrible war should break out, then at least we've experienced two utopias here."