People standing among the renovated Silo building, the chicken coops turned into workshops and the old sheds at Kibbutz Eilon, should ignore the noise of a tractor hurrying down the road or even the trilled songs of the crowds of birds nesting in the tree tops; then they will be able to hear the clear sounds of violins.
Contact and address
- Phone for reservations
- 077-9964447
- Website
- www.keshetei.org.il
Contacting host
The Keshet Eilon – Music Center and Violin Mastercourse, was founded in 1990 at Kibbutz Eilon in the Western Galilee. The compound includes a complex of practice rooms as well as a concert hall called the Keshet Eilon Auditorium. In this precise location, inside an old chicken coop metamorphosed into a concert hall, dozens of classical concerts are being held. Some of the best violin players and musicians come here and the name of the center has long become a musical brand name and a symbol of quality in Israel and around the world.
Gilad Sheba, the managing director of Keshet Eilon and a proud member of the kibbutz, recalls how it all began when a group of 12 violinists, immigrants from the Commonwealth Countries, came to Kibbutz Eilon. This was the beginning of an educational musical activity that developed and gathered momentum over the years.
“Our activity is based on the belief that playing the violin has the power to bridge religions and nationalities and constitute a bond and an international language between cultures. The name ‘Keshet’ (Arc) originated from this belief and as a symbol of it; and the project’s key goals are both fostering and promoting young gifted violinists, and currently other string instrument players as well, to a level of musical excellence, and contributing to the development of the Western Galilee.”
And indeed, during the year, and mainly during vacations, the Keshet Eilon holds seminars for Israeli violinists, an international summer course for outstanding young violinists from Israel and around the world, as well as other musical activities. Its faculty consists of senior teachers leading in their fields including internationally renowned string instrument masters. In addition, a series of quality concerts is held during the year, open for the wide public of music lovers.
People planning to come here will be glad to know that Kibbutz Eilon is set to accommodate them in family units and vacation villas, which from time to time offer residence to senior musicians during their stay at the Kibbutz.