Legendary Violinist Ida Haendel passed away on June 2020. What a great loss for the faculty members, alumni, students, and friends of Keshet Eilon and the entire music world!
Haendel joined the faculty of Keshet Eilon Summer Mastercourses as a distinguished guest artist from 1999 to 2011 and gave her famous “Afternoon with Ida Haendel” encounters with the young violinists every summer. “By no means are these masterclasses, and I am not a teacher,” she used to say.
Despite the age gap – she became an admired figure and a model of inspiration for the young musicians who were gathering at Keshet Eilon. Each of them had yearned to play for her, listen to her reaction, and absorb her wise remarks. Her performances at Keshet Eilon, together with colleagues and students, were accepted with great excitement and especially with the roaring applause of the young “fans”.
In a movie produced in summer 2015, Ida Handel said about Keshet Eilon: “This is the place to come to and to be…”
She will be missed at Keshet Eilon and by all who knew and admired her.
