For one very special and exclusive night, the Tower of David with its diverse spaces, turrets, gates, lawns and stages turned into a temple of music, movement and art.

We invited you to stroll with us from midnight on Thursday until sunrise on Friday through the citadel’s timeless spaces and to revel in performances, ceremonies and one-off encounters, lose yourself amidst the sounds of the Far East, Yemenite groove or American blues, familiarize yourself with different cultures, places and styles, and experience the incredible power of “togetherness” until the white night is replaced by the sun’s warmth. 

Gulaza

Participants: Igal Mizrahi, Ben Ilon, Hila Epstein, Yan Ilon.

A performance which combined traditional female Yemenite folk singing with African beats and injected it with a new, liberating and empowering sound. Only a narrow strait divides between Yemen and Africa. Gulaza is the name for this thin stretch of sea—an ocean of despair, prayer, passion, dance, love and yearning for freedom.

The Libyans

Participants: Dvir Cohen, Ilan Damari, Ariel Kasis, Yogev Levi, Roy Friedman, Avi Agababa, Asaf Rabi, Yaniv Raba.

Arrangements and Musical Production: Yaniv Raba and Yankale Segal

The Libyans brought to center stage the fascinating musical tradition of Libyan Jews and the sacred music they created between Africa and the East. Yaniv Raba and Yankale Segal set out on a mesmerizing journey into Libyan piyutim and a world of rich and varied musical styles—Arabic, African, Turkish, Western and more.

Zar Ceremony for Jerusalem the Bride

An Original Production for the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival

Ceremony Leader and Artistic Director: Gil Ron Shama

Participants: Salah Hibi and the drummers from the El Tablin Ensemble, Mumin Sesler, Elad Kimchi, Dance: Ramadan Rahaway,  Sufi Dancer: Natalie Dvir, Mor Geffen.

The Zar is one of the world’s most ancient ceremonies. There is evidence that it was held in ancient Egypt. Ever since its inception it has been conducted jointly by Muslims, Jews, Copts and Christians, all using their faith to expel demons and diseases or to purify and to bring blessing and peace.

Malaika Trio

Participants: Roni Parnass, Liron Meyuhas, Yael Sharoni.

The performance by the Malaika Trio, a group of three female musicians who play a range of different percussion and string instruments from all over the world, was inspired by Africa’s rich musical traditions.

Yair Dalal and Al Darwish

World Debut Especially for the Festival

Participants: Yair Dalal, Erez Munk, Khaled Abu Ali, Osama Abu Ali, Ihab Badarna, Mahmud Abu Aluz.

For the wee hours of the morning, Yair Dalal and the members of Al Darwish prepared a special debut performance that included songs and hymns from the Sufi tradition and from eastern Jewish traditions as well as some original music.

Mekhilta

Participants: Eyal Saeed Mani, Itzhak Ventura, Eran Binyamini, Aviv Kaminer, Asaf Rabi, Omer Rizi, Jonathan Perez, Avner Cohen Zadeh.

Rabbi Eyal Saeed Mani preserves a thousand-year-old tradition of playing the tar which has been passed from father to son and teacher to student. His composition brings together the ancient Persian tradition with which he was raised and contemporary arrangements; a theme underlined yet further by the choice of instruments included in the performance.

​Netanel Goldberg - River of Light

Participants: Netanel Goldberg, Nimrod Nol, Eyel Freedman, Dror Parker.

A performance that takes us on a musical journey through texts—ancient, modern and renewed. Singing, with its power to open heavenly and earthly gates and break through age-old barriers, provides the heart with the space it needs to improvise and freely express itself. This was an invitation to create, audience and the musicians together, our own prayers; a minyan of hearts liberated and beating freely.

​Orvim Ensemble

Participants: Lilu, Ori Eshed, Yaniv Masel, Yoni Ben-Dor.

The Orvim Ensemble presented a courageous and original approach to the Middle Eastern maqam and invited you to experience bold and exotic Eastern music. Their compositions exemplify the complexity of the place we live in, and the audience found itself navigating its way through contemporary, local and piercing lyrics, ground- breaking beats and unique sounds for traditional instruments, in addition to profound and resonant songs, performed as if they too were a type of musical instrument. All of this created a powerful and surprising listening experience.

The Karnofsky Project

Participants: Gilad Harel, Gershon Leizerson, Yair Salzman, Tal Kuhn, Ilan Smilan, Ella Daniel.

An astonishing meeting between Klezmer music and popular jazz from New Orleans led to the formation of the Karnofsky Project, named after the Jewish family who adopted the young Louis Armstrong, about a century ago, somewhere in New Orleans and even bought him his first trumpet.

Cut n Bass

Participants: Alon Carmeli, Haggai Fershtman, Tam Mochiach and Special guest: Ron Parnass.

Contrabass player Alon Carmeli (former member of the popular punk band HaTapuhim), does not compose lyrics. He composes sounds of the time and place in which he is living. The inspiration for his uncompromising groove is drawn from his childhood and is the result of a unique combination of the Maqam traditions of the Middle East and Africa together with the contemporary traditions of the contrabass.

Carmeli connects ancient and new, East and West, using a range of different effects, sampling and electronic sounds. Cut n Bass, which he began as a solo project built around the bass with additional ethnic and electronic elements, has attracted some new members in the last few years, such as Haggai Fershtman on drums and Tam Mochiach on bass guitar, synthesizer and electronics. Together with guest percussionist Roni Parnass, the group created a magical performance of sounds and beats.

Samarkand

Participants: Itzhak Ventura, Tzipporah El-Rei, Yaniv Teichman, Elisaf Bashari, Roy Freidman, Yshai Afterman and guest artist: Guy Mintus.

Ney musician Itzhak Ventura introduced us to the maqam scales and the magic of the music of  nomads and shepherds in Central Asia in a performance that drew its inspiration from Samarkand  (brown sugar)—the capital of the Silk Road, an ancient eastern city that was the home of poets, scientists, and Sufi philosophers.

The performance brought together musicians whose work is based on a love of Sufi music and a mystical experience that was brought to you through the sweet voice of Tzipporah el-Rei.

Jerusalem Kirtan Project

Participants: Ohad Rein, Liora Itzhak, Narayan Jyoti (Ron Paz), Sheer Sofer, Shai Becher, Shanee Steinberg-Habari, Yaron Peer.

The Kirtan was originally a simple yet wonderful musical yoga exercise in which the leader chants intermittent mantras and sings devotional songs that are then repeated by the circle of people around the leader.

The Kirtan was performed throughout the night by three Israeli Kirtan experts, Liora Itzhak, Ohad Rein (Old Man River) and Ron Paz, who, accompanied by an experienced group of musicians, led the communal singing with songbooks containing all the song’s lyrics.

Sesler Band

Participants: Mumin Sesler, Ugurcan Sesler, Elad Peled, Hagai Bilitzky, Yoni Sharon.

The ability to combine a Mozart sonata, a tango by Piazzolla and Arabic folk songs is reserved for the very few who can play each and create a composition that includes all three.

Sesler joined Night Stroll in order to give the audience a taste of music from all over the world with his unique band of musicians from Turkey and Israel. They presented original and exclusive musical arrangements for both familiar and new pieces and transformed the performance into a unique and magical experience. 

Tribal Dance—Dance 'till you Trance

Participants: Amir Yaacobi, Natalie Curtis, Ofer Zvi, Yaron Rosenberg, Ohad Eilam, Amin Sayegh.

AmirYa and Tribal Dance is a troupe, founded by him, that combines ancient tribal instruments like the didgeridoo and the tom-tom drum with modern electronic instruments. The music induces a unique type of melodic trance that is all-encompassing, hypnotic and sensual. The powerful vocals and stage presence of soloist, Natalie Curtis, captivated the audience with their energetic and rhythmic performance. 

Halawet Ensemble

Participants: Mayo Shabiro, Guy Cohen, Lev Elaman, Omer Lahav, Johanna Ritmuller, Hila Ahiel, Hanny Zayt, Sarel Hacohen, Moti Gabbai, Meirav Wahab, Dror Tubul.

The Halawet Ensemble is a musical mosaic made up of young Jerusalemites of all varieties, genders and colors from the East and West of the city who have put divisive and charged issues to one side in order to focus on a shared passion—Middle Eastern classical music.

The Halawet Ensemble consists of male and female musicians, graduates of the Center for Middle Eastern Classical Music and the Jerusalem Music Academy.