Dear Members of the Faculty, dear Students,

Nine years since its founding, the Barenboim-Said Akademie finds itself carrying out its mission against the backdrop of an unbearable war in the Middle East, home to the vast majority of our students. Here in Germany, the seat of our Akademie, we also face an increasingly polarised debate about who controls the narrative about the political situation in Israel and Palestine. 

Given various public statements by members of the Akademie, it has become necessary to reaffirm the purpose and mission of our institution. We must also remind ourselves what the Akademie stands for, and what it does not stand for. We do this in deep mourning for the countless lives extinguished, and for the shattered dreams of the innocent.

In his manifesto, “Musical Education as Humanistic Education” (2018), Daniel Barenboim wrote: “The key to this educational project is encounter.” The idea for such encounters first took shape in 1999, with the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said. The Akademie was conceived to carry that idea forward, and to embed it in education for generations to come. There is a well-known saying: “Nothing happens without people, nothing endures without institutions.” Guided by this insight, the founders created an experiment in utopia; a place where musicians, particularly from the Middle East, could experience a humanistic and artistic vision of equality, justice, freedom, and mutual recognition.

The Akademie is therefore both an idealistic and pedagogical project. It is a site for musical training and artistic excellence, shaped by a sense of social responsibility. It is a space for engaging with difficult realities and grappling with questions to which there are no easy answers. Most importantly, it endeavours to be a place where such engagement can occur in an atmosphere of mutual respect and empathy, one where everyone can trust that they will be heard, where positions can be expressed and challenged. Here no one is excluded due to ideological rigidity or treated contemptuously out of a sense of moral superiority. In the words of Daniel Barenboim, our Akademie is a school for acceptance.

For this reason, the principles of humanism and universalism form the non-negotiable foundation of our shared teaching, learning, and working. The Akademie is not an arena for particularism, political activism, or partisan loyalties. Nor is it a place where the injustice or suffering experienced by one group is downplayed by pointing to the injustice or suffering of another.

The Barenboim-Said Akademie is one of the very few places in Germany — perhaps the only one — where young Israelis and Palestinians can come together to talk and work side by side, as part of a community of students from twenty-seven nations. At this moment, the Akademie is undoubtedly facing the greatest test of its founding vision. And yet, its success is clear. Even now, in June 2025, students from Israel, Palestine, and neighbouring countries continue to apply, audition, and choose to study here at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin, embracing this bold experiment in utopia.

This success up to date is thanks to the loyalty and commitment that students and faculty have shown to that founding idea. The university leadership—Rector, Chancellor, and Dean—will continue to ensure and take appropriate action so that this vision remains the firm foundation of all our idealistic and pedagogical work.

Berlin, 10 June 2025

Prof. Dr. Regula Rapp (Rector)

Prof. Dr. Dr. James Helgeson (Dean)

Michael Rösler (Chancellor)