America-Israel Cultural Foundation to celebrate their 80th anniversary at Tel Aviv gala
The event has invited these AICF-affiliated artists together to showcase their talents all under one roof – through one memorable jam-packed night.
By ZACHARY KEYSERAn America-Israel Cultural Foundation gala(photo credit: AMERICA-ISRAEL CULTURAL FOUNDATION)
The America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) will be celebrating its 80th anniversary and 80 years of cultivating young Israeli talent, during a special gala being held at the Tel Aviv Cultural Hall on December 2.The special event will host and showcase a myriad of past and present AICF artists specializing in classical music, dance, singing, choreography, performing arts and much more. They will focus their artistic compositions for the evening to reflect a classic contemporary style. All received funding or scholarships from the foundation and they promote Israeli culture through their music.The event has invited these AICF-affiliated artists together to showcase their talents all under one roof – through one memorable jam-packed night – an event whose scale is beyond previous AICF events before this anniversary.“The mission of developing and catalyzing Israel’s top emerging artistic talent is something that has been the driving force of our organization over the past 80 years. I am thrilled to celebrate the first-ever winners of the Israel Culture & Arts Awards for their immense talent which helps shine a light on Israel as a global hub for the arts,” said Josh Tanenbaum, president, board of directors, AICF. “As an organization, we’ve built a pathway for Israel’s brightest emerging artists to realize their potential. There are so many buried treasures in Israel, and we’re constantly inspired to keep digging and helping these artists shine.”In light of the foundation’s 80th anniversary, the board of directors recently appointed Iris Ronen to become CEO of the New York branch of the AICF, in order to find ways to provide more scholarships and funding to facilitate up-and-coming Israeli talent – to further the cultural foundation of Israel and concurrently strengthening its relationship with the United States through their extensive work.“The 80th anniversary will truly be a unique event, because we are trying to showcase all the work the foundation has done over the past eight decades – from classical music to the performing arts to visual arts and so forth,” Ronen told The Jerusalem Post, adding that the event has invited AICF artists from every single time period and generation going back the foundation’s founding – adding to the massive scale of the gala for event organizers, directors and the artists themselves.Ronen showed much success in her role as the Chief Executive Officer of AICF Israel over the past two years, which launched her into her newly appointed role in the United States – now representing both the Israeli and American branches in one expanded position.“I’m very excited and honored to step into the role of New York CEO, to represent both the American and the Israeli entities [of the AICF]. Hopefully we will keep improving for the next 80 years – however, there are major challenges in both organizations fundraising-wise and we have recently been doing major work, allocating funding to find the best talents, musicians and artists [throughout Israel] – and most importantly that they will be able to reach their full potential.”The foundation’s focus is aimed towards finding Israeli talent and honing their gifts to one day become cultural ambassadors for the State of Israel.One of the major initiatives the AICF has provided to the Israeli public throughout the years is their program which provides underprivileged children with musical instruments that they would have otherwise been unable to afford on their own.
However, the foundation not only seeks out young artists, but also emerging artists as well, at any stage of their career, throughout all different artistic disciplines and walks of life – many of which have gone on to become members of major orchestras, to composing their own classical works, or to becoming world-renowned musicians and so on.On December 2nd, the AICF will showcase – very well – the culmination of all the massive efforts it has put in over the years into a single special gala event.For tickets and information regarding the America-Israel Culture Foundation gala being held at the Tel Aviv Cultural Hall please visit kupatbravo.co.il/announce/65607.
