The Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival is Canceled for Security Reasons

The festival has been canceled due to current security concerns with flights to Israel

Founded in 2008, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival (JCMF) is held in Israel and sees around 9,000 people attend annually from all over the world. 

Led by the festival’s founder and artistic director Elena Bashkirova, the festival has featured artists including Sir András Schiff, Baiba Skride, Menahem Pressler, and Emmanuel Pahud, among others. 

This year’s edition of the event has been canceled due to current security issues surrounding flights to Israel and tensions escalating in the region.

According to Israel Hayom, the recent closure of the airspace over the center of the country — to protect flights from airstrikes — has led to foreign airlines suspending their routes to Israel’s largest city, Tel Aviv. 

“With a heavy heart, and truly with sorrow, but while taking responsibility, we decided to cancel the chamber music festival in Jerusalem that was supposed to start in 10 days,” JCMF explained on its website.

“...All the European airlines and especially the Lufthansa group announced this evening that the cancellation of flights will continue for several more weeks. In this situation, most of the artists will not be able to come during the coming week and participate in the festival,” JCMF continued.

“This is a great sadness for everyone; for the artists and the audience, but we have no choice, and out of responsibility we made this difficult decision. All ticket buyers will be credited with any amount paid.”

This year’s JCMF was set to feature new artists such as pianists Giorgis Oskonis, Itamar Carmeli, and Igor Levit; violinists Nitzan Bartana and Fedor Rodin; violists Nega Shachem, Catherine Spiegel, and Roman Spitzer; cellist Haran Meltzer, and oboist Christina Gomez Godoy.

Returning artists for the 2024 programs included pianist Denis Kozhin, violinists Michaela Martin, Madeleine Carruzzo, and Mark Karlinsky; violist Adrien La Marche; cellists Frans Helmerson and Tim Park; and clarinetist Pablo Bergen.

“Chamber music is not the grandeur of the symphony which envelopes the audience,” Bashkirova recently told The Jerusalem Post. “Listening to small ensembles requires a different kind of concentration. It is intimate. You must come to the music. Furthermore, when it is performed in Jerusalem, it is a unique experience because Jerusalem is a unique city. The role of music is to bridge gaps and connect people wherever they are. It uplifts the soul.”