The Voice of Music Festival in the Upper Galilee, one of Israel’s oldest and most highly regarded chamber music festivals, will celebrate its 41st season this autumn with five days of live music and events at the Pastoral Hotel in Kfar Blum, in the Upper Galilee from October 28 – November 1, 2026.
Founded by Idith Zvi, the festival will take place under the artistic direction of pianist Dr. Ofra Yitzhaki, now in her sixth year as Artistic Director. It is produced and hosted by the Pastoral Hotel Kfar Blum in collaboration with the Upper Galilee Regional Council. Following several challenging years in the Galilee, the festival plays an important role in strengthening the region and bringing together culture, tourism, music and community. For five days the Pastoral Hotel and its surroundings will be filled with music, from morning coffee to the final notes of the evening. For guests staying at the Pastoral, the festival becomes an immersive experience, with music unfolding throughout the day and across the hotel.
This year, the festival brings back to the fore the traditions that have become an integral part of its identity over the years: Coffee & Concert, Work in Focus talks, late-night musical sessions and, of course, the open rehearsals so closely associated with the festival. Every afternoon, open rehearsals will give audiences an authentic glimpse into the musicians’ collaborative process, offering a chance to hear works before their concert performances and to encounter the music and its performers in an informal setting.
“When I build the festival program, I feel a threefold responsibility: to the audience, to the musicians, and to that abstract entity we call music,” says Dr. Ofra Yitzhaki. “I want to offer audiences an uplifting experience and give the musicians repertoire that will excite and engage them. But I also feel that part of my role is to care for the culture itself: to preserve the great works of the repertoire through outstanding performances, to create cultural contexts that allow us to see them afresh, to connect the music of the past with the music of the present, and to ensure that there is a place for contemporary Israeli classical music, so that the art form here can continue to develop and grow.”
The program curated by Dr. Yitzhaki seeks to preserve the traditions associated with the festival while bringing them into the present. Alongside cornerstones of the chamber repertoire, it will feature music of the 20th and 21st centuries, new Israeli works, premieres and multidisciplinary productions.
The realities of recent years in the Galilee are also reflected in this year’s artistic program. The closing concert, My Stream, will be devoted to nature, water and the Galilee, and dedicated to the memory of Ofer “Pushko” Mushkovitz, the festival’s photographer and an integral part of its spirit, who was killed by friendly fire in the courtyard of his home in Kibbutz Misgav Am in March 2026.
The Shadow Line: Music on Legends, Childhood and Memory brings together works by Schumann, Brahms and Bent Sørensen with Silent Playground by Druze composer and pianist Haya Mustafa, written in memory of the 12 children killed by a rocket strike on the football field in Majdal Shams.
The festival will present world premieres of works by Naama Pearl-Tzadok and Onn Yosef Kadosh, commissioned for the festival with the support of the Israel Music Institute, alongside new arrangements written especially for festival musicians by Yonatan Keret and Aviv Benyamin.
Israeli song will also have a prominent place in this year’s program. Opening night will feature Shlomi Shaban in a solo piano performance, taking the audience on a personal journey through his own songs and the music that has shaped his artistic path.
Nurit Galron and her band will be joined by festival musicians in new arrangements of five selected songs from her repertoire, written by composer and arranger Yonatan Keret.
Among the major works to be performed are Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Ravel’s Piano Trio, Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen, Mozart’s Piano Trio K. 502, Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1 and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.
The festival will also bring familiar works into dialogue with music that revisits them from a contemporary perspective. In Search of Lost Time pairs Mozart’s Piano Trio K. 502 with Mozart-Momente by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas will be heard alongside Jean Françaix’s arrangements and a new work by Onn Yosef Kadosh inspired by Scarlatti.
The festival will also join musical institutions around the world in marking the centenary of Hungarian composer György Kurtág, one of the major figures of 20th-century music. A special event will combine a discussion of his work with Ofra Yitzhaki, performances of his music and excerpts from filmed interviews with the composer.
Several of this year’s major concerts have been conceived as encounters between music and other art forms. In American Rhapsody, the Upper Galilee Choir, the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet, a string quartet, a clarinet and double bass duo, actress and singer Ola Schur Selektar and pianist Ofra Yitzhaki come together in a program ranging from works by Samuel Barber, Florence Price, Gershwin and Bernstein to readings from American poets and philosophers.
In Heart in Winter, French music meets cinema. Excerpts from Claude Sautet’s film, in which the music of Maurice Ravel plays a central role, will be woven into a program featuring works by Ravel, Satie, Massenet and Tōru Takemitsu.
As a Storm Upon Me explores love and passion through music and text. Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1 will be heard alongside Hebrew love poems and songs, including Nathan Alterman’s As a Storm Upon Me and Leah Goldberg’s Selichot, performed by Ola Schur Selektar.
The festival experience will also extend beyond the Pastoral Hotel and Kfar Blum. Psalms and Piyyutim for Shabbat will take place at Domus Galilaeae, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. A free Picnic on the Banks of the Jordan River will invite families to an outdoor musical gathering featuring the Jerusalem Street Orchestra Amateur Project, conducted by Ido Spitalnik, together with amateur musicians from across the Upper Galilee.
For younger audiences, Lemonade Serenade: Peter and the Wolf offers a fresh interpretation of Prokofiev’s musical tale, combining music, theatre and movement. Directed by Ari Teperberg, the production is performed by the Tel Aviv Wind Quintet.
Among this year’s participating artists and ensembles are violinists Nitzan Bartana, Roi Shiloah and Natasha Sher; actress and singer Ola Schur Selektar; the Cecilia Ensemble; Tel Aviv Wind Quintet; Rosmarin Ensemble; Trio Classis; the Upper Galilee Choir; the Jerusalem Street Orchestra Amateur Project; and additional festival musicians.
Paid shuttle transportation from Tel Aviv and Haifa will be available to guests purchasing festival hospitality packages.
For the full festival program, tickets and hospitality packages:
Pastoral Hotel hospitality packages, including admission to festival events
*Information and text on the festival has been provided in a press release
