Dear friends and supporters,
The Salem Music Center is a venture developing gradually thanks to the ongoing cooperation between its local Palestinian initiators, from the village of Salem near Nablus, the Israeli volunteers of the Villages Group, and donors from Israel and abroad (especially from Australia and the U.S).
The first stage of this project, based on a proposal submitted last year, started on March 2010. The center’s founding team includes the project initiator Mr. Jubier Ihstayya (who serves also as a music teacher), the music instructor and teacher Mr. Amid Jamus and the project coordinator Mr. Fadi Ishtayya. The first class of 15 students is now about to complete its initial six months period of musical training. The result of this pioneering endeavor is an overwhelming success and sheer joy for the participants and partners alike (Erella’s story ‘The Sixth Lesson’, attached here as .pdf, captures the excitement we felt during this period).
In order to keep the momentum of this project going and to include in it many more children from the neighboring Villages of Salem and Deir al-Hattab, we hereby submit to you a new proposal for the Music Center. This proposal (pdf document linked) seeks to enable the center to continue running for the next 3 years (2011-2013) and establish itself as the core of creative development for the children of these two villages.
In the following months, even before the hopeful implementation of this 3 year plan, we wish to start a process of cooperation between the new music center in Salem and a well established high school of arts in Tel-Aviv. The school’s principal and the head of its music department have already visited the center in Salem and were deeply impressed by the progress of the pupils. We are now looking together for ways to form ongoing contacts between the school in Tel-Aviv and the developing center of Salem.
Reminder: The Villages Group is a small group of volunteers, which currently includes six Israelis and two Palestinians. Relying on 100% of volunteering work, our access to the big organizations and funds which demand much bureaucracy is very limited. It is our good fortune that we are backed, in many of our activities, by small organizations and individuals who grasp and understand the spirit of our group and its endeavors. The great potential of Salem music project is manifest and clear. This project was brought to life by the generosity of individuals and it needs your generosity in order to flourish and prosper. We are certain that it going to do so. For donations at any amount please contact us at ksehud@gmail.com.
We end with a video sample from a rehearsal of the music center’s first class (we apologize for the poor video quality)
Yours,
Ehud Krinis and Erella Dunayevski in the name of the Villages Group
(thanks to Carin Smaller for help in translation of the proposal)
Trackbacks
[…] (crossposted from the Villages Group blog) […]
[…] The center was jointly established by Jubier, a local musician, and members of the Villages Group – a small group of Israeli volunteers who have been regularly visiting Salem for the last eight years. This joint effort, backed by financial support from private donors abroad (from Australia and the US), lead to the opening of the first class of the music center, in March of this year. The 15 pupils chosen for this first class are the first children from Salem having the opportunity to systematically learn to play instruments and work together in a musical ensemble. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } […]
[…] Saturday February 19 we visited the Salem Music Center. We were accompanied by three professionals – Fuad, a music teacher from Tel Aviv-Yaffa, Ram […]
[…] Villages Group continues to work closely with Salem’s Music Center, leading to increasingly close relationships between the Center and […]
[…] Villages Group continues to work closely with Salem’s Music Center, leading to ever-expanding relationships between the Center and the […]