A Journey with Musical Women – Witches Festival 2026

The Israeli Romantic Ensemble on period instruments. Gili Rinot – classical clarinet and artistic direction. Amos Boasson – viola. Marina Katz – cello. Asaf Zomer – fortepiano. What would classical music have been without the women who worked behind the scenes as students, patronesses, musicians and salon hostesses? A musical journey following Franziska Jacquin, Therese von Trattner, Sara Levy, Duchess Anna Amalia and Lise Cristiani reveals how they influenced Mozart, Mendelssohn, the Bach family and others. From Berlin and Vienna, through the palace of Weimar and on 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, this year under the title "Echo" — a journey following women, works and voices that, even in their own time, earned recognition, honor and their rightful place, and whose influence never faded but continued to echo into later generations. Over two days, audiences will meet women who were creators, performers, queens and patronesses, 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 reached us across time and to discover how they continue to live, change and echo today.