A Journey with Musical Women – Witches Festival 2026

All concerts of the Witches Festival 2026. The Israeli Romantic Ensemble, playing period instruments. Gili Rinot: classical clarinet and artistic direction. Amos Boazson: viola. Marina Katz: cello. Assaf Zomer: fortepiano. What would have become of classical music without the women who worked behind the scenes as students, patrons, musicians, and salon hostesses? A musical journey following Franziska von Jacquin, Therese von Trattner, Sara Levy, Duchess Anna Amalia, and Lisa Cristiani reveals how they influenced Mozart, Mendelssohn, the Bach family, and others. From Berlin and Vienna, through the palace of Weimar and all the way to Siberia — a fascinating story of women who changed the history of music. The Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra's "Witches" Festival returns for its fifth year, and this year, under the title "Echo," it takes audiences on a journey following women, works, and voices that, even in their own time, earned recognition, honor, and the place they deserved — women whose influence never faded, but continued to echo through the generations that followed. Over two days, audiences will meet women who were creators, performers, queens and patrons, muses and heroines — women whose actions and presence shaped the music and culture around them. From ancient myths to twentieth-century jazz, from the salons of Vienna and Berlin to today's stage, the festival seeks to listen to voices that have reached us across time and to discover how they continue to live, change, and echo today.