Young CEME (CEME TZAIR)
Young CEME - Annual Program and Summer Camp for Young Composers and Performers
Young CEME (CEME Tza’ir) is an annual program by Meitar Ensemble, centered around a unique summer camp fully dedicated to the creation, composition, and performance of contemporary music. The program creates an extraordinary platform that nurtures the future generation of leaders in Israel’s cultural and artistic scene, organically connecting the worlds of composition and performance. Founded in 2017, the program comprises several tracks.
Composition Track
The composition track connects promising young composers (ages 9–18) taking their first steps in the field with the players of Meitar Ensemble. This is a unique track on both a national and international scale - both due to the young age of the creators and the year-round work process.
The track offers young composers an open space to dream, imagine, and translate ideas into sound, working closely with top teachers and receiving a vital opportunity: having their original works performed in major concerts by the musicians of Meitar Ensemble.
Heart of the Program: Intensive Summer Seminar
The highlight of the year is an intensive five-day summer gathering featuring the musicians of Meitar Ensemble alongside top composers and composition teachers in Israel (including Dr. Hana Ajiashvili, Jonathan Keren, Dr. Eliav Kol, Prof. Michael Wolpe, Eli Korman and others).
The seminar includes extensive rehearsals, public workshops, masterclasses, and individual composition lessons. The gatherings - which in past years were held at Kibbutz Sasa and Studio Annette in Tel Aviv - have found a warm home in recent years at Kibbutz Sde Boker.
Each year, the program intentionally admits a small, select group of composers to ensure rigorous, personal attention, providing each work and composer with significant rehearsal and lesson time.
Performance Tracks: A Stage for Outstanding Players
Alongside the composition track, Young CEME operates performance tracks allowing young instrumentalists to experience contemporary music:
● "Ruach" (‘רוח روح’) Flute Ensemble: Since 2025, the program hosts this ensemble based on flute students from Nazareth and Tel Aviv, led by Anat Nazarathy. The track offers young flutists an opportunity to deepen their playing, featuring an annually commissioned new work written for them by leading composers (such as Eli Korman, Jonathan Keren and Tamar Shalit).
● Jonathan Hadas's Clarinet Masterclass: Joining the lineup of tracks in 2026 for clarinet students seeking to both master their instrument and engage with new music.
● Young Meitar (Meitar Tza’ir): A new and unique performance body comprised of outstanding high school students from across the country who wish to explore and experiment with performing contemporary music while forming social and musical connections.
We are delighted to see the program's alumni integrating into higher education institutions for music in Israel and abroad, as well as winning prestigious international competitions in both composition and performance.
The outputs of the program and the new works can be heard throughout the year on prominent stages:
● In Meitar Ensemble's concerts.
● In special concerts hosted by the Jezreel Valley Center for the Arts.
● On the stages of the CEME Festival in Tel Aviv.
● At the "Sounds in the Desert" (‘Tzlilim Ba’Midbar’) Festival in Kibbutz Sde Boker.
Additionally, selected students from the composition track receive commissions from Meitar Ensemble to write works for the ensemble's subscription season in Tel Aviv. The program also engages in further collaborations, such as a special project with the national "Cellil Ba’Galil" Cello Festival, which commissioned an original work from a program student (Itay Weitzman) for a cello orchestra of about 60 players (students and faculty), performed and recorded at the festival's closing concert.
Young CEME forms an integral part of Meitar Ensemble's broader pedagogical vision, which also includes the CEME International Festival for adult composers and the "Tedarim" track for contemporary music - a master’s degree program in collaboration with the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
For further information, please contact Yoni Gotlibovich: j.gotli@gmail.com | +972 52-561-7597