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Dear Graduates,
I am writing to congratulate all of you on the exceptional work you have done at the Barenboim-Said Akademie. I have observed with admiration your development and growth as musicians and human beings, and it has been a pleasure to get to know you better through the many masterclasses, concerts, and individual encounters. I also know from conversations with members of the faculty that the commitment to our shared community that all of you have shown under these difficult circumstances has been extraordinary. I am proud of the work we have been doing together and grateful to each and every one of you.
This academic year has been especially challenging for all of us at the Barenboim-Said Akademie. Faced with the unprecedented violence against Israeli civilians on October 7 and with the unspeakable horrors and devastation brought on the Palestinian people, we have been shaken to our very core. The human suffering we are confronted with on a daily basis is unbearable. How can we remain steadfast in our mission against such forces of destruction and separation?
I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the core values on which the Barenboim-Said Akademie is built and which to me remain unchanged. At the heart of our educational project lies a profound commitment to human encounter and a firm belief in the transformative power of truly listening to the Other. Each of you has a unique background and identity and here you encounter each other, guided by a common vision: through listening to each other, you make music together, you learn together, you grow together.
Over the past weeks and months, debates and discussions have inevitably become more urgent and heated. I encourage these debates and urge everyone to remember and respect each other’s humanity even and especially when we disagree. A plurality of positions is our source of strength. Over the past weeks and months, some voices have been louder than others. The loudest voices do not, however, represent the Akademie as a whole. Our humanist commitment, expressed in and through music, has never been reducible to a single political or even moral message. Through music we express an enduring belief in humanity and in life: that we can hear contrapuntal voices, that silence is necessary for sound, that hearing the Other makes us more fully human. This is all the more important now, when it appears so difficult.
Edward Said and I never pretended that an orchestra or an academy could bring peace and justice. Instead, we spoke of an “experiment in utopia,” an invitation to witness and imagine an alternative to the present: a reality of shared humanity, of equality and mutual recognition. Speaking of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we have said repeatedly that there is no military solution to it. I say this again today, calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and full compliance with international law. No matter how you look at it politically, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea there are over 14 million human beings, and they deserve equal dignity and self-determination. Nothing short of full equality will do.
These are not sentimental dreams. I recall the words of Antonio Gramsci who said, “My mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic.” When we look at the state of the world, the only possible response is pessimism. But by doing our work together we resist this outcome, we create the realities that defy it, and we claim our right to hope.
In this spirit, I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and hope to see you again at the Barenboim-Said Akademie or with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Yours,
Daniel Barenboim
Thursday, June 20, 2024