Born in Jerusalem, Ehud Banai could be the icon that appears next to the dictionary definition of the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival. The Persian piyyutim that he heard in his grandfather’s home on Ha`agas Street, the interweaving of secular and holy, east and west,acoustic and rock rifts, come together in a very special performance, which is the perfect soundtrack to welcome the final day of the festival. At the height of a long and successful career, and one Israel’s most beloved and respected musicians, Banai continues to search, create and renew unfettered by musical or artistic restraints.

In the performance at the Tower of David, which opened the final day of the festival, he took to the stage with a lineup of eight musicians and host Etti Ankri, George Sima`an and Salem Darwish, three of Israel’s most authentic and exciting musicians, in a meeting of musical and personal worlds melded together by a common musical language that revealed a hidden inter-connection of holiness and music.