Our principal focus is to fund teaching and ensembles at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM). We give the opportunity for disadvantaged young musicians to learn music, who would not be able to, without our support. We also provide opportunities in the UK for talented young Palestinian musicians to extend their music studies and to perform. Additionally, PalMusic augments the ESNCM’s teaching with online workshops delivered by high-calibre musicians, and cultivates a love of Palestinian music and culture, through staging concerts and events.
Over a thousand students currently study music at the ESNCM’s branches in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah. As you would expect, teaching in Gaza has had to be paused, and the ESNCM is striving to provide support to its students, families, and teachers there, at this terrible time.
The conservatory teaches children and young people from 5 years upwards, providing a structured programme of individual instrumental lessons, theoretical classes, and ensemble tuition, as well as Arabic percussion and music history. Students study at the conservatory, alongside the regular schooling. The Conservatory runs numerous ensembles, including Arabic Music “takht” groups, classical chamber groups, orchestras, and jazz bands, as well as two flagship orchestras whose members come from the Palestinian community worldwide (the Palestine Youth Orchestra and the Palestine National Orchestra). These ensembles together with other opportunities, such as the summer music camps, provide a rich experience for students.
PalMusic fundamentally believes that Palestinian children and young people deserve to have fulfilling lives. Access to culture, as set out in UNESCO Article 27, is a basic human right. The Article argues that the protection of culture is ‘fundamental to addressing the challenges of our time’ including ‘ever more complex emergencies and conflicts’.
We know that music has huge benefits for young people. The latest 2023 report from Youth Music, ‘Sound of the next Generation’, sets out compelling evidence:
For young Palestinians who are witnessing and experiencing distress and trauma daily, and living with restrictions on their movement, the benefits of music are immense.
Over the past 10 years, PalMusic has made a valuable funding contribution to the ESNCM, as well supporting Palestinian scholars to study in the UK and staging a vibrant programme of events, to include a tour of the Palestinian Youth Orchestra culminating at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
We know that increased restrictions and conditional funding has made it significantly more difficult for ESNCM to operate. PalMusic’s funding, which is unrestricted, is unusual and so valuable, enabling the conservatory to fund its core tuition and ensembles.
