West–Eastern Divan Orchestra

The West–Eastern Divan Orchestra is based in Seville, Spain, and consists of musicians from countries across the Spanish world and the Middle East—of Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Hispanic background.

It was jointly founded in 1999 by Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian-American academic Edward Said, who named the Orchestra and workshop after West-östlicher Divan, an anthology of poems written by the German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - a central work for the development of the concept of world culture.

In 2015, Argentine pianist Martha Argerich, as Barenboim's long-time performing musical partner, was designated as an honorary member of the Divan Orchestra.

In 1999, Barenboim and Said, who had become friends in the early 1990s,[2] founded the West—Eastern Divan Orchestra in order to foment a feeling of sympathy and co-existence, chiefly between Arabs and Israelis, through Middle Eastern musical ensembles.

[6] On 11 July 2012, in the presence of Italian president Giorgio Napolitano and his wife Clio Maria Bittoni, Barenboim led the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra's performance for Pope Benedict XVI in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.

[9] In May 2022, the orchestra opened the prestigious Prague Spring Festival with two concerts of Bedřich Smetana's tone poem Má vlast (My Country).

Since 2002, the Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia) and a private foundation have provided a base for the ensemble in Seville, Spain.

A film by Paul Smaczny about the orchestra, Knowledge is the Beginning,[12] won the Emmy Award for best documentary related to arts of 2006.