Bar-Ilan University Hosts 14th Days of Jewish Music Festival

The 14th edition of Bar-Ilan University’s Days of Jewish Music festival is scheduled for May 12-15, 2026. The event carries the theme “Melodies of Hope” and features concerts, lectures and workshops at university venues as well as three performances at the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art.

Artistic director Yuval Rabin, an organist who founded the festival, said this year’s schedule is the largest to date. The program expands from three to four days and includes 14 concerts, he reported. Rabin stated the title reflects the current period and draws on a Yiddish song that humorously asks why a cantor sings in both happy and sad times.

“Music helps us to connect with ourselves, both in joy and in sadness,” Rabin said. He added that the music allows people to engage with their current emotional state, whether distilling joy or accentuating sadness. Rabin noted that Israelis commonly experience this duality, citing singing on the eve of Remembrance Day and at weddings.

The concerts draw on musical traditions from Persia, the Balkans, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen and Ladino culture. Repertoire includes liturgical material, biblical texts, works by late Renaissance and early Baroque composer Salamone Rossi, and pieces by Israeli artists Yehudit Ravitz and Shlomo Gronich.

Clarinetist Gilad Harel and accordion player Ilya Magalnyk will perform during a talk by Avi Bar Eitan covering a range of musical genres. Veteran jazz saxophonist Daniel Zamir is scheduled to appear at the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art. Iranian-born Israeli singer Maureen Nehedar will present music from her country of birth.

The festival includes a tribute to Hungarian-born Israeli composer, educator and ethnomusicologist Andre Hajdu, marking 10 years since his death. Conductor-pianist Omer Arieli, who established the Jerusalem Opera with Hajdu, will perform with several of Hajdu’s sons.

The session continues with lectures on Hajdu’s concepts of musical sustainability, improvisation, composition and Mishnaic aspects of his work. Bar-Ilan University lecturer, composer and conductor Prof. Gideon Lewensohn is set to speak on musical sustainability according to Hajdu’s thinking.

Educator-musician Meir Yaniger and former student Noam Peleg will also address Hajdu’s teaching methods. The tribute takes place under the local arm of the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance. Rabin, who studied under Hajdu, described his teacher’s egalitarian approach to music that incorporates varied cultural and historical influences.