The Sounding Jerusalem Festival invites everyone to a 15 days long festival experience of finest chamber music, performed by internationally known artists and gifted young musicians.

Founded by the Austrian cellist Erich Oskar Huetter, the festival aims to unite the widest possible audience to enjoy chamber music of the highest possible standard in unique concert settings.

The town of Jerusalem with its outstanding combination of historic, artistic and spiritual traditions has unlike any other city always been a source of inspiration for artists, expressed in so many works and creations over the centuries.

These traditions also reflect in the many historical and spiritual venues of the city. Therefore all concerts of the Sounding Jerusalem festival will be played in fascinating sights and undiscovered concert venues like the Armenian patriarchate, the Lutheran Church of Redeemer, the San Saviours Convent, the American Colony Hotel or the Austrian Hospice.

Most of the concerts will take place in the historic town of Jerusalem and its region but some of them are also planned in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho, Jenin and in breathtaking open-air venues.

The festivals rich and innovative concert programmes contain masterpieces of the classical Western chamber music, musical highlights from the Arabian culture as well as exciting new creations like world premieres of contemporary chamber music pieces and musical improvisations.

For young artists, performing is a vital aspect for developing a successful future career. Therefore talented young Palestinian musicians will get the opportunity to work together with outstanding internationally acclaimed musicians. The students will have the chance to experience the everyday life of these renowned artists and to join rehearsals with them in order to prepare themselves for public concerts at the Sounding Jerusalem Festival. There they will perform together side by side in one chamber music ensemble.

The aim is to provide these young talents with intense, challenging, and rewarding musical experiences in order to encourage them to continue with their open-minded creative artistic work.

Chamber music itself symbolizes the creation of intimacy through the coming together of a small group of people communicating with each other through the universal language of music.

The Sounding Jerusalem Festival hopes to develop and enlarge its “sounding community” in which musicians and their audience witness together precious moments of enchanting chamber music in a joyful festival atmosphere.

Sounding Jerusalem hopes to give a fresh impetus and to intensify the local cultural life by organising free music concerts and by offering an open space where all musicians and the audience have the chance to meet and share their musical interests in a stimulating artistic ambiance. Absorbing the amazing atmosphere rich with history and culture, the festival aims to create a strong and beautiful musical sound, destined to make people listen, enjoy and celebrate their passion for music by freely exchanging their experiences and new impressions of the Sounding Jerusalem Festival.