The general director of the Keshet Eilon Music Center, Gilad Sheba, has been awarded the Gottlieb and Hannah Rosenblum Performing Arts Award.  The award is presented to outstanding artists in the various fields of the performing arts:  theater, dance and music.  The award ceremony will be held on the 22nd of October 2007, at the Einav Cultural Center in Tel Aviv. 

Gilad Sheba was born and raised on Kibbutz Eilon in the Western Galilee.  From a young age, Gilad studied the violin in a friendly and supportive environment, and after completing his army service, he chose to continue his study of music, specializing in choral conducting.  For a long period of time, he taught music at the Manor-Kabri joint music school.  He organized the school's choir and conducted various instrument ensembles.  At the same time, he conducted the kibbutz choir that made appearances on holidays and at cultural evenings and he played an important role in preparing the cultural events on the kibbutz.

In 1990, while he was still very involved in his educational work at the school, Sheba hosted a group of 12 young violinists from the former USSR, in a summer activity which was part of a program to absorb immigrants.  A year later, when another group of young violinists from other countries joined the group, momentum was built and the Keshet Eilon Center was officially established.  Sheba dedicated more and more of his time to the establishment and management of Keshet Eilon – which he considered to be the realization of his dream. 

In existence for the past 17 years, Keshet Eilon has gained wide acclaim both in Israel and abroad.  It attracts both young gifted violists and seasoned artists.  About 750 graduates of its master classes are scattered across the globe, including Israelis living in Israel and abroad.  Many of them have come to Israel as new immigrants.  Moreover, Keshet Eilon has set the development of young violinists as its most important educational goal.  Hundreds of young Israeli violinists and their teachers, some of whom live in the periphery and are minorities lacking financial means, have received special training from the most senior faculty and have benefited from vast professional experience of the center's many years of operation.

As a man of vision for whom Keshet Eilon is his life's work, Sheba believes that the word "Keshet" [rainbow] expresses the relationship and the bridge between people and nations, beliefs and cultures created thanks to the violin.  As the person responsible for this endeavor, he is the living spirit surrounded by all those who are involved in this endeavor.  Sheba works diligently and persistently to ensure that Keshet Eilon is a unique music center in the Western Galilee that is active all year long.

Those who know Gilad Sheba personally will tell you that the goal he has set for himself is not a dream. The planned music center is taking shape, and is the glory of the State of Israel.