The American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (AFIPO) recently announced the upcoming release of a new arrangement of Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah, that merges the voices of thousands of individuals from around the globe.
The “Global Hatikvah” project was launched to mark the 20th anniversary of Hatikvah — which translates to “the hope” — legally serving as the national anthem of the Jewish state.
The project is in partnership with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and the Canadian Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (CFIPO). It is set to premiere on May 13: Israel’s Independence Day, known as Yom HaAtzmaut.
The organizers have asked the participants to submit their voice recordings singing the anthem in order to combine them into a single virtual choir.
The orchestra has been performing throughout Israel for the last several months for injured patients in hospitals and for displaced children and families in evacuation centers, as well as at war relief concerts for children and their families.
“When we thought about how to extend that message of hope globally, we realized that Hatikvah could be the basis of a worldwide message,” said AFIPO’s CEO Jennifer Hughes.
The new rendition of the anthem will be arranged by award-winning composer, violinist, producer and songwriter Maxwell Karmazyn, whose credits include Dreamworks’ animated film Trolls and CBS’ Blue Bloods.
“Since Global Hatikvah was conceived first as a mixed media project combined with a mechanism for global engagement, I approached the piece in a cinematic/film music style, with the goal to tell a story,” said Karmazyn.
“The arrangement begins sparsely, as one voice after another comes in to result in a massive and glorious finale with thousands of singers. The symbolism there is that ‘the hope’ for Israel begins individually, but when all brought together, shows us how anything is possible through music.”
Previous notable arrangements of Hatikvah include Leonard Bernstein’s version during the 1967 concert on Mount Scopus in honor of Israel’s triumph in the Six-Day War, and Barbra Streisand’s rendition for The Stars Salute Israel at 30 in 1978, and the 2020 performance at the IPO’s first-ever global gala concert hosted by Helen Mirren.
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