Daniel Barenboim
Advocating peace in the Middle East through music
Personal life
The pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, born on the 15th of November 1942, is revered for more than purely his musical mastery. He is famous for his bold and courageous efforts to promote peace through music in the Middle East, at a time when conflicts frequently devastated the region.
Barenboim was born to a musical family. His parents were pianists; the father also serving as a music professor at a local school. At the age of nine, Daniel and his family would move from Argentina to Austria, residing in Salzburg. The family would then relocate once more to Israel 1952.
In Salzburg, Barenboim took part in conducting classes held by renowned conductor and instructor Igor Markevitch. During this time, he met and played for Wilhelm Furtwängler, who would become the young man’s primary musical influence for decades. Furtwängler called Barenboim a “phenomenon” and invited him to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic—a step that would serve as the start of the youngster’s international career.
Career
Barenboim’s professional debut as a pianist was in 1952 at just ten years old. Three years later, he would perform in Paris, with a show in London a year later. He would eventually reach American shores in 1957—playing in New York under the baton of renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski.
While he was held in high regard as a pianist, Barenboim was most well known for his work as a conductor. His professional conducting career started in 1962, first performing in Israel and then with the Melbourne and Sydney symphony orchestras in Australia. He would also serve as a guest conductor in several cities around Europe and the United States. For instance, he worked as the director for the Orchestre de Paris from 1975 to 1989.
His contributions to fighting unrest in the Middle East are at the forefront of his accomplishments. He firmly believed that music could improve relations in the region, so he co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999 with Palestinian-American activist and scholar Edward Said. The orchestra featured Arab and Israeli musicians working together to create beautiful music, which was an unprecedented feat during the height of tensions.
