Local musicians dedicate concert to Israeli hostages abducted on Oct. 7
A chorus for Alon Ohel
As “Adon Olam” echoed through the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, many in the audience joined in a quiet chorus, slowly growing louder and more confident as the live performance progressed. Others sat in a reverent silence.
The selection was one of many played on Aug. 25 during a concert dedicated to those taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 — particularly Alon Ohel, a gifted pianist from Pittsburgh’s Partnership2Gether sister community of Misgav in Israel. Ohel was abducted from the Nova music festival where Hamas terrorists killed hundreds of young concertgoers, and raped and kidnapped others.
Idit Ohel, Alon Ohel’s mother, spoke in a pre-recorded video about the day he was taken hostage. She recalled the moment she and her family were told Alon Ohel was abducted. Her entire family stared at her and waited for her to respond. She took a deep breath and said “OK, so we have to fight.”
“I know from that second that I am not going to be in my bed crying,” she said. “I cannot control what is going on with Alon, obviously, but I can control to what house, to what home, he will come back to, and he will come to a strong, healthy, loved and safe home.”
Idit Ohel’s strength inspired those on the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s solidarity trip to Israel in June. Karen Gal-Or and Marjorie Manne, along with the other members of the trip, met her then.
Alon Ohel’s family have not heard from him since he was abducted, but Idit Ohel feels confident her son is still alive. She and her family set up a yellow piano in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. On Aug. 5, the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill installed a yellow piano with the message “You Are Not Alone.”
Jan Levinson, the Pittsburgh Federation’s board chair, has met Idit Ohel twice, once in December and once during the solidarity trip. He described her as a “very brave person” as she, and others, await her son’s return.
Idit Ohel told the solidarity group that from the moment her son was born, he loved music. He began playing piano when he was 9. At the concert, a video of him playing piano was paired with a performance of a song written for him by his aunt.
The song translates to “Your Melody” in English and is a direct address to Alon Ohel. The lyrics explain that his family and friends have hope for his return, ending with the refrain, “Your melody will be played forever.”
Jodi Weisfield kicked off the live performances with the second movement of Beethoven’s “Pathétique Sonata.” Ilana Schwarcz then took the piano for “Adon Olam” and tefilah alongside singing by Jonathan Weinkle and an impassioned audience. Pauline Rovkah played Chopin’s “Nocturne” in C-sharp before turning to an off-the-program performance.
Davis Morgenstern, a 19-year-old rising junior at Yale College, briefly introduced himself before playing Chopin’s “Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52,” widely considered to be a classical masterpiece — and one of the most technically difficult.
Morgenstern, like many of the musicians at the concert, seemed in his own world as he played the 10-minute rendition of the piece with apparent ease. At the end of his performance, the audience gave a lengthy ovation.
In an interview after the concert, Morgenstern said he’s played the piece many times before, but playing for the hostages may have brought more out of him than usual. Right before the concert, he performed at the corner of Darlington Road and Murray Avenue at a community vigil for the hostages.
The concert concluded with “Hatikvah” performed by Yana Warshafsky and a special dedication to Agam Berger, an Israel Defense Forces surveillance soldier who was taken hostage into Gaza and recently turned 20. When her fellow hostage Agam Goldstein-Almog was released in November, Berger gave her a message for her family.
Berger wished her father a happy birthday. Her family has not heard from her since.
She loved music and studied the violin, and a video of her playing the song “Hallelujah” on violin has been circulating on social media since her kidnapping. Violinist Lina Horwitz performed the song in her honor at the concert.
Once again, the audience joined in, singing the song with Schwarcz and Weinkle. PJC
Abigail Hakas is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
comments