Contemporary witnesses

Giora Bernstein, professor of music history, conductor, founder and former director of the Colorado Music Festival, immigrated to Israel in 1939.

There he studied music from 1953 to 1955 at the Israel Music Academy in Tel Aviv which held many joint courses with the Midrasha, the music teachers' seminar founded and directed by Kestenberg. This is why he studied music history with Kestenberg.

In his interview, Bernstein sketches a lively portrait of Kestenberg as a man and a musician during the Tel Aviv period. For example, he recalls the admiration that he felt even as a young man for Kestenberg's versatility and his organizational capabilities. Bernstein also describes, however, Kestenberg's difficulties in adjusting to the new country.

In 1954, while still a student, Bernstein and his colleague Aharon Shefi founded the Givatayim Conservatory near Tel Aviv. Today, some 250 students between the ages of 6 and 18 receive music lessons there.