Palestinian orchestra uses ‘music as resistance’

Birzeit, Occupied West Bank – On a humid summer evening in Birzeit, the atmosphere in the Naseeb Azeez Shaheen Auditorium turned raucous when it was announced that two musicians from Gaza would be performing. The audience had barely settled by the time the Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO) launched into the familiar, dramatic opening bars of the Star Wars main theme. For its 2017 tour, the PYO had s

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"The Israeli authorities are really afraid of music. They wouldn't want to stop it from happening, they wouldn't deny permits, if they weren't aware of how effective it is."