Alon Ohel, an innocent civilian and a gifted pianist of Misgav in Israel, was abducted by Hamas from the Nova festival in Israel on October 7. Alon’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

Shortly after he was kidnapped, Alon’s mother, Idit Ohel, installed a yellow piano in Tel Aviv’s hostage square with a sign “You Are Not Alone.” Since then, yellow pianos have been installed in other cities, including New York, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam. Our community is participating with a yellow piano event with the message “You Are Not Alone” in Family Hall at the Kaiserman JCC.

We invite you to join us on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00pm, for a musical event to raise awareness of Alon’s story and the stories of all those who remain in captivity in Gaza. Several musicians will perform and we will hear a moving message from Alon’s mother, Idit. Through music, let’s send Alon and the other hostages love, strength, and the reassuring message that they are not alone.

About the performers: 

Olga Borisovsky graduated the Academy of Music in Novosibirsk, Russia in 1985. She moved to Israel in 1990, where she served as an accompanist at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. She also formed the piano duo for four hands with her husband Dmitry, and they performed in Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Austria as well as in the Jerusalem International Piano Duet Festival. She moved to the US in 2002 along with her husband and three children. Currently, Ms. Borisovsky maintains an active private studio and serves as the accompanist at Main Line Reform Synagogue.

William Fleming is eleven years old and a sixth grader at Bala Cynwyd Middle School. He started learning piano when he was six years old. In the summer of 2022, he became a student of Olga Borisovsky. He won second place at the Elite International Music Competition in 2022 and first place at the Triumph Music Festival in 2024.

Baritone, Matthew Fleisher, former professional opera singer and teacher of voice pedagogy, is renowned for his robust and warm bass timbre. Matthew has enjoyed a career as a professional singer performing with the National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Detroit Metro Opera, among others. Matthew now teaches voice for people with severe vocal trauma.

Violinist Yelena Podgorny is a graduate of Tashkent College of Music and has been a member of the Tashkent Classical Symphony. She moved to the United States in 1993 where she has continued performing as a member of the Reading, South Jersey, Ocean City, and Bucks County Orchestras. In addition, Ms. Podgorny maintains an active private studio.

Israeli born musician, Michal Schmidt, maintains a dual career as a cellist and pianist. She studied at the University of Tel Aviv, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Curtis Institute of Music, the University of the Arts, and received her DMA from Temple University. An active orchestral player, chamber musician, and recitalist, she created the series Tribute, which has been ongoing since 2007 and is dedicated mostly to contemporary music.  Her most recent albums include three discs of Bach’s music for solo cello and solo piano, recordings of Brahms op. 116, 117, & 118, Schumann’s Davidsbündler, op. 6, and an album of new music titled “Sola”.