Music: The city offers world-class opera and classical concerts several times a week. These are generally staged by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Israeli Opera and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. For operas, simultaneous translations into English are the norm in Tel Aviv.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (tel: (03) 621 1777 or 1 700 703 030; website: www.ipo.co.il), considered one of the world's best, gives more than 150 performances each year and is today housed at the city's superb main concert hall, the 3,000-seat Mann Auditorium, 1 Huberman Street (tel: (03) 629 0193 or 620 0076 or 528 8653; website: www.hatarbut.co.il). The orchestra was founded in Tel Aviv by Jewish settlers as the Palestine Orchestra in 1936 in the midst of anti-Jewish rioting by the Arabs. Many leading European musicians dismissed from their jobs due to the rise of Nazism fled to Israel and found positions with the Philharmonic. The Indian conductor Zubin Mehta, regarded as one of the greatest living conductors, took over in 1969.
The Israel Chamber Orchestra (tel: (03) 518 8845; website: www.ico.co.il) is based at the Jaffa Music Center, 10 She'erit Israel Street, Jaffa. Numerous internationally acclaimed musicians have performed with the chamber orchestra, which has a repertoire ranging from baroque to modern, and many world-famous choirs have participated with it.
The New Israel Opera (tel: (03) 692 7777; website: www.israel-opera.co.il) performs at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre and hosts an annual season there from October to July. Tickets for all shows at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center can be purchased by telephone or in person at the box office, 19 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard.
The city has long been and remains home of many of the world's leading classical conductors and soloists, including Zubin Mehta and Itzhak Perlman, as well as Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and Isaac Stern (1920-2001), and attracts many guest musicians and conductors of the standing of Lorin Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic, and Pinchas Zukerman (a native of the city), music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada.