The Choir of London is fundraising to continue a project that supports the inspiring work of a handful of music schools in Palestine which work to overcome huge obstacles to offer Palestinian children the chance to break the barriers of conflict, poverty and isolation through music-making. Three past recipients of the Choir's Bursary Scheme for young Palestinian musicians were first introduced to music by the Al Kamandjati Music Centre in Jenin, a school which has faced more than its fair share of hardship and challenges since its creation.

Situated some 90km north of Palestine’s de facto capital, Ramallah, and accessed through several military checkpoints, Jenin’s geographical isolation was matched by a relative lack of cultural activity in the city around the time that Al Kamandjati’s Jenin branch was opened in 2007. A fire at the school in 2009, in a suspected arson attack, rendered the premises unusable for classes and in 2010 the school re-opened in a restored building in Jenin’s old city.

Despite these challenges, Al Kamandjati Jenin is now a flourishing, welcoming centre for the city’s children, some of whom drop in almost daily to practise, take lessons, sing in the choir and play in the orchestra. Being too far from Ramallah to join the orchestras and ensembles that have been set up there, the students created their own groups. One such group, the Jenin Ensemble, has a busy schedule bringing their music to community centres, schools and hospitals throughout the West Bank, and last year won the coveted Ensemble Award at the Palestine National Music Competition.

The Choir of London Bursary Scheme enables talented and enthusiastic young musicians from Palestine to spend two weeks in the UK, and is of particular importance to students in isolated communities like Jenin.

“Being a musician in Palestine is not easy, we have a lot of difficulties and barriers that hold us back whether it's getting permits to go play a concert in Jerusalem, or just moving from one city to another for classes or workshops,” says Rashed Zarour, a 16-year-old violist from Jenin who participated in the Bursary Scheme this summer, meeting and playing with British teenagers at Pro Corda Chamber Orchestra course in Suffolk, and taking classes and workshops at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

“The Bursary Scheme has offered me this amazing opportunity to go to the UK, which means getting a lot of new chances in music, and new ways and people to learn from, and improve my musical level, and for that I am really grateful.”