By Alexandra Svokos - May 29, 2015
Originally appeared here in The Huffington Post
The Polyphony Foundation is spreading classical music across Israel -- and bringing Jewish and Arab people together in the process.
Polyphony began as a small school in 2007 in Nazareth, with the intention of bringing classical music education to the Arab community. After establishing that, co-founder Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar wanted to expand the school's mission. He started the nonprofit Polyphony Foundation in partnership with Deborah and Craig Cogut in 2011 with the goal of creating positive shared experiences between Arab and Jewish communities in Israel.
"Within the challenges that the Israeli society is facing, we thought that classical music can play an important role," Abboud-Ashkar told The Huffington Post.
Polyphony provides basic music education in schools in addition to running conservatories, orchestras and traveling ensembles. It currently serves over 6,000 students in 73 kindergartens and 26 elementary schools across the country. Next year, they expect to nearly double the number of students. Read More