On March 24^th 2024, music students, their parents, including community members from the southern and northern border regions of Israel spent an entire day in the Ono Academic College in Kiryat Ono. The day’s program included workshops for the music students, their siblings and parents. The day concluded with a memorable concert of the Israel Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gal Alterovich. The event was opened by remarks of the Deputy Minister President and Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine Westphalia, Mona Neubauer, who attended the concert as part of her trip to Israel in March 2024. 

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia supported this activity through the  "Shalom - Chaveruth - Solidarity Partnerships North Rhine-Westphalia - Israel" (hebr. peace and friendship”) initiative. The partnership of the city of Muenster in NRW and the city of Rishon LeZion was geared specifically at musical students and their families from the Gaza envelope. The day was made possible by the cooperation with the education department of the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion and support of their partners.

The music students spent the day in a variety of master classes about voice development, mental and physical challenges of musical performances and realizing orchestral rehearsals with Rom Shamir (conductor of the IDF orchestra since 2018) and Gal Alterovich (Conductor Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon Le Zion). 

For the accompanying parents there were sessions with Dan Varon (trumpet instructor and certified psychologist) on coping with the challenges of the current period through the power of music. Noam Bennett (horn player Israel Symphony Orchestra, Rishon LeZion) shared with parents her development and journey as a horn player. 

Small children were entertained with makeup artists, a musical salon and a show by actress Hila Raviv.

The closing concert by conductor Gal Alterovich with the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon  LeZion also gave the stage to Gabriel Cohen Glaser, a member of the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra of the Jerusalem Music Center.

The Office of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Israel was honored to have been able to play a part in this production and support the ties between the twin cities, who came together to create a memorable day for the war-afflicted music students and their families.