The Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival

Every year in late summer some of the best musicians worldwide meet in Israel for The Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival (JCMF), established by pianist Elena Bashkirova and advocate Yeheskell Beinisch. In 2016, the 19th Festival was dedicated to interrelated composers like Brahms/Schumann or Schubert/Beethoven – played by outstanding artists like Sir András Schiff, Baiba Skride, Menahem Pressler or Emmanuel Pahud in the halls of the Jerusalem YMCA.

The festival continues to be an outstanding success because of its adherence to its original mission: to deliver a series of performances that allows people to unite in celebration of the joy of making music. While the lineup of musicians always includes new names and faces, the festival also honors its relationships with those who have performed year after year and has thus succeeded in fostering a close-knit community of music lovers in Jerusalem. Every year the festival has about 9,000 people who are coming to the concerts, many of them to more than one. Today, the festival is considered a leading one in the world of chamber music.