Arts & International Affairs: Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer/Autumn 2018 | Page 54

THE BARENBOIM CASE: HOW TO LINK MUSIC AND DIPLOMACY STUDIES
phony Orchestra (where the third workshop was taking place in 2001), are exceeding
the actual project phases. The growing professionalization is reflected not least in a significant
increase in the annual performance activities, as the following diagram (Figure
1a) illustrates:
Figure 1a. Performances of the WEDO, August 1999–November 2018 (per annum)
The uncompromising quality of music-making, unquestionably a key factor for the
WEDO success story, is as much resulting from the fact that “Barenboim and his team
of teachers demanded as much of them as of a professional orchestra” (Cheah 2009:53)
as for the extraordinary musical and extra-musical networks of which Daniel Barenboim
disposes, for example, the intense artistic cooperation with world-renowned soloists
such as the Argentine pianist Martha Argerich or the soprano Waltraud Meier (both
named honorary members of the WEDO). Neither should we underestimate Barenboim’s
high prestige and awareness level as a catalyst effect insofar as the celebrity factor,
albeit not resulting in a distinct form of celebrity diplomacy in this case, amplified the
Divan’s almost global visibility. This factor might be one of the major reasons why other
ensembles engaged in Middle Eastern intercultural dialog such as the Arab–Jewish Orchestra
(an institution consisting of 24 young instrumentalists and singers from different
Israeli backgrounds, focusing on crossover programs of oriental and Jewish folk music
and led by Nizar Elkathar) are operating in the shadow of the omnipresent Divan.
The recent launch of the Barenboim–Said Akademie in Berlin can be understood as the
most extensive product of institutionalization and professionalization as mentioned
above: since 2016, between 90 and 100 talented young musicians from the Middle East
and North Africa (but also other countries of origin) are selected to pursue a four-year
Bachelor of Music or a yearlong pre-professional Artist Diploma, both including a strong
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