Avishag, the daughter of a single mother from Ethiopia, began her musical training at the Hassadna Conservatory in Jerusalem at the age of seven. She was able to demonstrate her immense talent there very early on in numerous concert performances. In July 2018, she won first prize in the string orchestra category at the international Summa Cum Laude Music Festival in Vienna. She then successfully completed her matriculation examination at the Hassadna Conservatory in viola with great success. After two years of civilian voluntary service and her wedding, she moved to Tsfat (Safod) in northern Israel, where she lives with her husband in a small apartment in the old town in very modest circumstances. She soon realised that without music, she would not find sufficient joy in life. She has since developed a passion for Oriental ethnic music, which is a great challenge for a viola player. However, she needed enough money to pay the tuition fees for the three-year course at the Maqamat Music School of Eastern Music. After long and futile efforts, she was able to raise at least part of the necessary sum on a loan basis so that she could take a few courses in the first semester. We are glad to have met her and to be able to finance her education until graduation with a scholarship.

Avishag is now a mother of two. She lives with her husband and two small children close to the border with the Gaza Strip and earns a living for her family by playing in an orchestra for oriental music. In autumn 2024, she was our guest in Germany for an inspiring series of concerts together with an ensemble from the Maqamat Music School for Eastern Music. Here you can find a piece from these concerts that Avishag composed herself https://youtu.be/3D3mmuXQJY4

Elisabeth is 24 years old and lives in Jerusalem. Her parents are from Ethiopia. Her father runs a small shop where he sells Ethiopian spices. While Elisabeth was at school, she discovered a piano in the school library. She was captivated by it. Whenever she could, she went to the library and tried to teach herself to play. Her teacher brought the little girl, who was so obviously enthusiastic about the piano, to the attention of the Hassadna Conservatory. From then on, a fascinating story began for a budding pianist, which eventually led to performances in remarkable concerts and participation in several high-class masterclasses for Elisabeth. After graduating from Hassadna, she initially studied piano at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance alongside her military service. There she received lessons from the world-renowned pianist Oxana Yablonskaja, and later from Prof. Yaron Rosenthal. In the spring of 2021, we began to support her financially with a scholarship. In the summer of 2022, we were able to help Elisabeth participate in a master class for piano at the Oberstdorf Music Festival with Prof. Konrad Elser. We took her visit to Germany as an opportunity to organise her first concert at our foundation's headquarters. The event was a great success. After completing her bachelor's degree at the Academy for Music and Dance in Jerusalem, she also participated, with our support, in the international Tel Hai masterclasses in Israel from 31 July to 18 August 2023 and the ISAM Festival in Ochsenhausen in 2024. Her next goal is to pursue a master's degree in Vienna, for which she is currently learning German. An audio sample of her playing can be found at this link: Bach - Prelude and Fugue no. 4 in C sharp minor, book 1

Naor began playing the clarinet as a 10-year-old boy at the Hassadna Music Conservatory in Jerusalem as part of the programme for children of Ethiopian descent. Right from the start, Naor showed real talent; he was a very musical boy with a great love and curiosity for music. The clarinet suited him immediately, and since then it has become his special world. Throughout his childhood, Hassadna was like a second home to Naor. Due to his family's underprivileged social situation, Naor was financially and often emotionally on his own from an early age. He studied with Prof. Ilya Schwartz, a lecturer at the Jerusalem Academy for Music & Dance.

During his time at Hassadna and afterwards, his great talent led Naor to many significant and motivating musical experiences. Together with the Hassadna Wind Orchestra, Naor travelled to Vienna in 2016 for the Summa Cum Laude Festival, where they won first prize. Naor has performed several times at Hassadna's annual fundraising event in London and has participated in festivals and masterclasses in Israel, the United States and France. In 2017, Naor played in the National Youth Wind Orchestra, and in 2018-2019 he played first clarinet in the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra courses. A sample of his skills can be heard in the following recording of Naor with his friend Yali Zaken: https://youtu.be/JhXsJ2euXcM.

Over the years, Naor has won several prizes in competitions. At the age of 18, he won second prize in a solo competition organised by the Ministry of Education's Music Department and third prize in the Kfar Saba Wind Instrument Competition. In 2021, he won first prize in the Jerusalem Academy of Music's concert competition. Next year, he will have the opportunity to perform as a soloist with the Academy's orchestra. Already one of Israel's leading young clarinettists at the age of 20, Naor urgently needed a new professional-quality A clarinet. We financed it for him. In 2023 and 2025, Naor organised our annual concerts together with his friend Yali. In October 2025, he will begin his bachelor's degree at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, which we are supporting with a scholarship.

Marianne is at home in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. As a Palestinian girl, she attended the German Schmidt School in front of the Damascus Gate of the Old City, where she graduated with good grades in 2023. She has been playing music since the age of 7 and is an enthusiastic bassoon player. At the age of 13, she took part in the German competition ‘Jugend musiziert’ (Youth Makes Music) and made it to the final round. She received her basic musical training at the Magnificat Institute, where she passed her bachelor's exam in bassoon in Viacenza, Italy, this year. Since October 2024, she has been studying German language and literature at the University of Freiburg and music for secondary school teaching at the local music academy. We financed the start of her studies with a scholarship. Then the Dr. Dr. Gerda von Mach Foundation, with which we work closely, took over her study financing.