The Yuval Ron Ensemble brings together Jewish, Christian, and Muslim musicians to play music of the Middle East that bridges national, racial, religious, and cultural divisions and connects people through music and dance. Yuval Ron founded the ensemble in 1999, after coming from Israel as an aspiring jazz guitarist to attend the Berklee College of Music, graduating with a degree in film scoring in 1989, moving to Los Angeles, and developing his skills on the oud. The ensemble has played for the Dalai Lama and for the King of Morocco, as well as at sacred music festivals in Los Angeles and Korea, and has won the Los Angeles Treasures Award.
Yuval himself has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, American Composers Forum, California Council for the Humanities, and the Rockefeller Foundation, and he contributed music to the film West Bank Story, which won an Oscar in 2007. For Yuval, says the magazine Berklee Today, “music is the vehicle to bring people together, emphasize the beauty in each culture, and build bridges between people of various faiths and ethnic backgrounds.” When asked about the ensemble, Yuval says, “We are trying to create light. We are trying to create hope.” If hope and light sound good to you, come hear the Yuval Ron Ensemble at the Freight!