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The Hineni Symphony Orchestra

Introduction
It started which a few Christian musicians with a lot of love for Israel in 2005. Their love for music and Israel made them look for other professional musicians who wanted to use their talent to play pro bono for Israel. And they succeeded. An orchestra of 70 played their first concert in January 2006. The enthusiasm of the public and musicians resulted in the ongoing existence of the Hineni Symphony Orchestra (HSO).

Our mission
The HSO plays for Israel, especially to bring comfort to those who suffer from terror attacks, to those who still have to live with the terrible memory of the Shoah. Herman Drost, manager of the HSO, explains: “We as Christians have a debt toward the Jewish people. For many centuries it was the Church that persecuted them. This painful history is unchangeable. But we can stand with Israel today. We wish to say: Hineni – here I am.” We, the HSO, want to show Israel through the universal language of music: we are right behind you, you have friends in the Netherlands, we pray for you and if possible we’ll help you financially so you can get the help you need to deal with your trauma.

How does it work?
The HSO is a foundation. There are no employees, only enthusiastic volunteers with love for Israel. The HSO consists of approximately 70 professional musicians and their conductor Lubertus Leutscher. The HSO has a board to help the orchestra realize its desire to play for Israel.

The HSO organizes several concerts a year in the Netherlands. The money we raise with these events goes to Israel, to the survivors of the Shoah and of terror. For this last mentioned group of people we work together with Hineni Jerusalem.

Our wish for 2013
The survivors of the Shoah have come at age. How long they will be with us, we don’t know. But we do know that they suffer from their trauma of the Shoah, even more now then when they were younger. We wish to bring a spark of light in these last days of their life with the sound of music.

2013 is also the year Israel celebrates it 65th birthday. The very existence of the state of Israel is a sign of hope to the world. But as enemies surround Israel and anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, we wish to show our support through our music to the whole nation of Israel.

We want to realize our wish for 2013 by having a concert tour in Israel. This will be our way to show Israel: Hineni.

Our board
Rob Barzilay – chairman
Marijke Terlouw – secretary
Marco van Veldhuizen – treasurer
Evert van der Horst – second treasurer
Leo van Koesveld – fundraising
Bert van den Burg – public relations

Closely involved
Herman Drost – manager HSO
Lubertus Leutscher – conductor HSO
Gera Bruinius – minutes secretary