Street Music in Jerusalem: Global Trends and Local Flavor

Abstract

Whilst writing the abstract for this article, the streets of Jerusalem sank into a deafening silence. Following recent events, the Israeli government and the Jerusalem City Council ordered a full lockdown on major parts of the city: no one was allowed outside their zones, and all businesses except the vitally important ones were closed. One was able only to hear the sirens—ambulances rushing, bringing new patients who had tested positively for COVID-19. Even if only temporarily, the unique phenomenon of street music in Jerusalem became a part of history—of the past. This article explores the variety of street music practices in modern-day Jerusalem, the author’s hometown. The diversity of repertoire, the scope of different musical backgrounds as well as the variety of performative strategies and available venues all serve as an indicator of the sophisticated and multicultural urban identity. For the principal methodological tools, the author used a range of collected recordings of street musicians in Jerusalem—some, of the author’s own, and others from the shared social media as well as from documented interviews with performers ranging from 2010 to this day.