FBMC – Home for Music and Musicians
The association was founded in 1998 with the goal of organizing, initiating and managing activities in the field of classical music and other artistic music in instrumental and vocal performance. For the first twenty years, its activity was focused on concerts taking place at the Felicja Blumental Music Center and Library (Bialik St. 26 in Tel Aviv), and the Felicja Blumental International Music Festival (founded in 1999) at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In 2009, the association also began operating as an umbrella organization for independent musicians. In 2016, it began producing the Poem Balev series for Israeli chamber music, and it also started producing concerts and shows across Israel with Femi Premium Ltd.
The association is a home that addresses the needs of musicians and music lovers in Tel Aviv and beyond.
Felicja Blumental Music Center Registered Association No. 580327740.
Shvil ha-Merets 2, Tel Aviv 6653518.
Phone: 03-6201185
Felicja Blumental (1908-1991)
Felicja Blumental was born in Warsaw where she studied at the National Conservatory with Karol Szymanowski, Joseph Goldberg and Zbigniew Drzewiecki. She’d started an international career before the outbreak of World War II. Due to the circumstances, In 1942 she was forced to leave Europe and found refuge in Brazil, where she began a new career and performed in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Following these successes, Blumental began performing in the United States as well.
The national Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos, who was deeply impressed by her performance of his Bachianas Brasileiras No. 3 for piano, decided to compose for her his 5th concerto. The premiere of this concerto took place in London, 1955, with Villa Lobos conducting the concert. From London, the two went on a concert tour across Europe, and they also recorded the concerto for HMV in Paris with the Orchestre National de France.
When Krysztof Penderecki was commissioned to create a new work to mark the 25th anniversary of the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, New York), he composed the Partita for Harpsichord and Orchestra, and dedicated it to Felicja Blumental, who also played performed it worldwide, with Penderecki conducting 35 concerts. Likewise, Witold Lutoslawski orchestrated his Variations on a Theme of Paganini specifically for her. In 1973, Blumental performed in 22 concerts. coast-to-coast in the United States, and In the 1976-1977 season, she was the soloist in a tour held by the Wiener Kammerorchester in California.
Felicja Blumental played with the leading orchestras in Europe, and in London, she performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She recorded over sixty piano concertos, many of which were works by well-known composers that she recorded for the first time. She recorded many Mozart concertos with the Mozarteum, Salzburg, and five Beethoven concertos with the Austrian Symphony, conducted by Robert Wagner. Her recordings of sonatas and toccatas of the pupils of Domenico Scarlatti, were awarded the Grand Prix in Tokyo, 1977.
In 1991, Felicia Blumental died in Tel Aviv. The music center—where the Tel Aviv City Music Library is located—was named after her, and contains her recordings and sheet music.
Brazilian soprano Annette Céline dies on her 78th birthday in Tel Aviv
3.6.2017
Annette Céline, accomplished soprano, passed away on 3 June following
a brief and sudden illness.
During her prolific career as a soloist, Annette Céline performed at world-renowned venues including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Salle Gaveau. She was a highly talented artist and appeared at music festivals worldwide including the Barcelona Music Festival and eleven concert performances of Gianni Schicchi in Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1995, she also performed at the 50th Anniversary celebrations for the United Nations.
Annette Céline made a number of recordings. In memory of her mother, she founded the annual Felicja Blumental International Music Festival in 1999, which celebrated 19 successful years in May 2017. She also established Brana Records to continue her parent’s musical legacy; the label is dedicated to the restoration of rare recordings by Blumental and each release features original artwork by her father, Markus Mizne. Annette Céline was also a distinguished painter and exhibited in various solo and group shows worldwide as well as having a digital exhibition of her work on Saatchi online.
In an interview filmed shortly before she died, Annette Céline said “I
wouldn’t be alive if I didn’t have music” and described music as being her ‘oxygen’
– a wonderful legacy for a musical life well lived.
Her greatest contribution to young and professional musicians was the establishment of the Felicja Blumental Music Center Association in 1998 as part of the activities of the Felicja Blumental Music Center and Library at 26 Bialik Street. The Center was opened in 1996.
The offices of the Association moved from Bialik Street in Tel Aviv to Shvil Hameretz in Tel Aviv in May 2021, in order to create the FBMC – House for Musicians as a national organization, along with the offices for the annual International Music Festival.
The new venue – Studio Annette – has a unique architectural design and has become a well-known center for musical performances in Tel Aviv.
Dear Annette, 7 years ago you closed your eyes forever, but your spirit, your voice and your paintings are part of our culture every day.
3.6.2024
