Polyphony was founded in March of 2011 by prominent individuals who believe that education in and through music, humanities and the arts is necessary for helping to create tolerant, just societies and stimulating dialogue between conflicting communities. The founders were inspired by the achievements of the Orpheus Foundation-Nazareth and the Barenboim-Said Conservatories, both of which are led by Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, Executive Director of Polyphony.
po·lyph·o·ny /p_ˈlif_ne/ Noun
The convergence of a number of largely independent voices and melodies that harmonize with each other.
Music has a power beyond its own sounds, transcending cultural and social boundaries to educate both performers and listeners in the art of listening. With this principle in mind, the newly formed Polyphony Foundation seeks to provide underprivileged Arab-Israeli youth a unique and dynamic pathway to equal opportunity and full participation in the building of future civil society.
Polyphony’s programs of education through music bridge the divide between Israel’s Arab and Jewish communities, facilitating cultural exchange, dialogue and partnership.
Polyphony ArtAchord Initiative
• Creates and integrates multi-cultural music curricula into Arab schools in Israel;
• Trains and hires Arab and Jewish professional music teachers;
• Supports existing conservatories and builds new ones to provide high level
instrumental coaching to Arab youth in Israel;
• Integrates classical music in the cultural scene, by producing classical music
concerts for neighboring Arab and Jewish communities in Israel;
• Facilitates opportunities for Arab and Jewish Israeli youth to share music making and
listening &
• Facilitates access to, and collaboration with, music education programs in the Middle
East.
Polyphony Passport Initiative
• Fosters shared social values through cultural exchanges, including supporting
US-based youth concert series;
• Exposes Arab and Jewish youth to diverse cross-cultural experiences;
• Creates empowerment of women in the arts; and
• Grows international understanding of Middle East conflict and the need to create
harmonious relations.
Board of Trustees of the Polyphony Foundation:
Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar
Nabeel Abboud Ashkar is the General Director of the Barenboim-Said Conservatory in Nazareth and the Barenboim-Said Music Centre Ramallah. Born in Nazareth in 1978, Nabeel Abboud Ashkar began studying the violin at age 8 with Nahum Lieberman in Nazareth, and then with Robert Canetti in Haifa. He graduated from Tel Aviv University in both physics and music, studying violin under Semyon Yaroshevich and Yair Kless. In 2007 he completed his master’s degree at the Hochschule fur Musik, Rostock, Germany, under Professor Axel Wilczok.
A member of the West-Eastern Divan orchestra, he also co-founded the Barenboim-Said Music Conservatory in Nazareth and Jaffa, and serves as Director of the Conservatory and head of the violin teaching department. He has performed as soloist with the Jerusalem Camerata and the Haifa Symphony orchestras, and in Jordan together with Ivry Gitlis he played the Bach Double Violin Concerto under conductor David Stern. He is a recipient of scholarships from the Barenboim-Said and the Al Qattan Foundations.
Cher
Cher is a singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, film producer, fashion designer, dancer, author and mother whose career has spanned nearly five decades and garnered her an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. Cher is also an advocate, activist and philanthropist who has contributed her time, voice and resources to support several important causes through the Cher Charitable Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting and giving voice to disenfranchised populations.
Craig Cogut
Craig Cogut is the Founder and Managing Partner of Pegasus Capital Advisors and Pegasus Sustainable Century MB. Founded in 1995, Pegasus focuses on building business platforms that create transitional and transformational solutions to global resource scarcity. In his leadership role at Pegasus, Mr. Cogut has executed over seventy transactions and has assembled a world-class team of investment, operational, engineering, and policy professionals.
Mr. Cogut is active with a number of non-profit organizations, with an emphasis on organizations that advance education, civil society, and sustainability. He serves as Chairman of the External Advisory Board of the Brown University-Veterans Administration Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine, Chairman of the External Advisory Board of the Cogut Center for the Humanities at Brown University, as a Trustee of Brown University, as a Director of Human Rights First, as a Director of the Gettysburg Foundation, and as a Trustee of the Arizona State University Global Institute of Sustainability. He recently founded and serves as Chairman of Polyphony, a global nonprofit organization that breaks down barriers to progress in social, cultural, and scientific realms by bringing diverse voices together.
In 2008 Mr. Cogut received the New York League of Conservation Voters Corporate Pioneer Award. He is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard University Law School.
Deborah Cogut
Deborah Cogut is a lawyer and civic leader involved in organizations focused on education and childhood health.
Mrs. Cogut serves as Member and Vice Chair of The Horace Mann School Board of Trustees, a Member of the Scholarship Selection Committee of The Children’s Defense Fund, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of The Children’s Hormone Foundation.
Previously, Mrs. Cogut was an attorney with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Associate Counsel and Vice President at RKO Pictures, and Associate Counsel at HBO in New York and Los Angeles.
Mrs. Cogut is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. She is the mother to four children with her husband, Craig Cogut.