Jerusalem Quartet is broken up by Gaza protest

The Fouth String Quartet Biennale in Amerstadam was severely disrupted last night when pro-Palestinian demonstrators drowned out the Jerusalem Quartet. Heather Kurzbauer reports on violinist.com reports:

A series of SQBA master classes offered by the greats to up-and-coming quartets entices both audience and participants to experience work in progress. In a revelatory morning session, two members of the Jerusalem Quartet offered words of wisdom to the young Amsterdam-based ADAM Quartet.

Challenging the extremely tense performers to open up and define “what is revolutionary about Mendelssohn’s Opus 13 #2?” while calmly advising them on “how to create the illusion that what we hear goes far beyond the reality of what we do” turned teaching moments into magic.

Later that evening, the spell was broken when pro-Palestinian demonstrators poured out their wrath on the audience and performers disrupting the Jerusalem Quartet’s evening concert with catcalls preceded by flyers that insinuated that concert attendance was tantamount to warfare. The Jerusalem Quartet rose above the situation to deliver a spellbinding performance of Shostakovich’s Second string quartet….

More here.