The Jerusalem Post
Bette Midler and Hans Zimmer to appear with Israel Philharmonic
By NERIA BARR
NOVEMBER 19, 2020
The event will be broadcast globally on December 6 at 9 p.m. Israel time, and will be free for the public.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s fund and the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a special pre-Hanukkah virtual event to raise much-needed funds for the support of the orchestra, which has not performed for more than six months, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Leading international and Israeli artists will perform in the event, among them Oscar-laureate composer Hans Zimmer, award-winning actress Bette Midler, Israeli actresses Rona Lee Shimon (who will host the event), and Dar Zuzovsky, as well as many others.
The orchestra will perform a number of musical hits composed by Zimmer for the movies, with Lahav Shani, the IPO’s musical manager, conducting.The event will be broadcast globally on December 6 at 9 p.m. Israel time, and will be free for the public.Zimmer – whose works include scores for films including The Lion King, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1995, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Interstellar, Gladiator, Crimson Tide, Inception, Dunkirk and the Dark Knight trilogy – will talk about his works, which will be performed by the orchestra.This will be the second virtual event the orchestra is holding since the beginning of the pandemic. The previous event, hosted by Helen Mirren raised a staggering amount of more than $500,000. The successful event was watched by about half a million viewers from more than 114 countries.Tally Gotlieb, the orchestra’s CEO said that the last year was very challenging for the orchestra. “In light of the successful event held earlier this year, we decided as a last effort for this year, to hold a second virtual gala concert, and I hope that we will be able to raise a substantial amount to help the orchestra in these dire times.”
