Israel Music Institute

Founded in 1961 by the National Council for Culture and the Arts, the Israel Music Institute disseminates information about and publishes and promotes original Israeli music. Since its inception, the Institute has acquired the rights to about 1,700 pieces of close to 400 composers. The Institute’s catalogue features an extensive range of compositions, choral and chamber music for sale and scores available for loan. Works accepted by the Institute first undergo evaluation in terms of artistic merit, irrespective of any commercial consideration. Represented in 13 countries by local publishing houses, the Institute has a standing co-operation arrangement with orchestras, choirs and artists in Israel and overseas, as well as with numerous institutions and events, including the Artur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, the International Harp Competition and the Zimriya World Assembly of Choirs and Choral Song Festival. The Institute is a member of the International Association of Music Information Centres and the International Association of Publishers of Serious Music. It publishes the quarterly IMI News in Hebrew and English, which provides detailed information on the activities of Israeli composers and the performance of their works, analytical and critical articles and reports on all activities under way in Israeli music at home and abroad. Since 1992 the Institute has been involved in the joint management of the Music in Israel Record Project of the National Council for Culture and the Arts – a project which focuses on the dissemination of Israeli music on records and compact discs. Twelve such CDs have been produced to date. The Institute also incorporates the Information Center about Music in Israel (ISMIS, see p XX), one of the country’s leading music resource centres.