Barenboim-Said Akademie celebrates topping out ceremony

On Monday, June 15, at a topping out ceremony for its future home in Berlin, the Barenboim-Said Akademie celebrated its imminent opening later this year as a degree-conferring training center for young musicians from the Middle East.

The Akademie expands upon the work of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an experiment in coexistence co-founded by pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim and the literary scholar and public intellectual Edward Said in 1999.

The Akademie—which features a new 620-seat concert hall, the Pierre Boulez Hall, designed by Frank Gehry—will be housed in the former stage depot of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, a designated landmark building. Up to 90 young students from the Middle East—invited on scholarship—will be enrolled in a four-year bachelor degree program in music, with a curriculum rooted in both music and the humanities.

Daniel Barenboim will be in charge of the academic and musical direction of the academy. Michael Naumann, former minister of culture of the Federal Government of Germany, is acting CEO of the Academy. Mariam Said, Wolf Lepenies and Joachim Sartorius are members of the BSA's Advisory Council.

Barenboim-Said Akademie celebrates topping out ceremony