Our Team - Make Freedom Ring

Make Freedom Ring: Two Teams – One Mission

We are a group of industry workers and artists organising a series of concerts to show solidarity with the people of Palestine. Alongside our concerts, we have run industry forums to build a broader movement of industry workers organising events and actions for Palestine. Through these forums, several of our members helped found a UK-based activist group Classical Music for Palestine, which we are proud to partner with.

United ◆ Kingdom

London Team

MFR UK has organised concerts across London, Cambridge, Manchester, and now Cork and Dublin, raising urgently needed funds for humanitarian aid and local Palestinian initiatives throughout the Gaza genocide. Our goal has been to centre the plight of the Palestinian people on a classical music stage. Our programmes have featured a broad range of musical traditions: Western classical, traditional pan-Arabic, Coptic, Palestinian, as well as Irish trad and South Asian folk.

Most importantly, we have given a platform to classical musicians and speakers from the Palestinian diaspora. Most are refugees, direct and indirect, of ‘48, ‘67, and 2023, now living in the UK.

Izzy Pitman

From Norwich, England, Izzy works as an agent in classical music management. She founded MFR in January 2024, having been appalled by the complicity of the industry in the face of genocide. She co-runs Classical Music for Palestine, which organises for change within the industry. In her spare time, Izzy volunteers with the Trussell Trust, and plays recreational football.

Noga Levy-Rapoport

Noga Levy-Rapoport FRSA (they/them) is an MMus Voice student at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. They are passionate about enfranchising young people through music and community and their work has led them to collaborations with Arts Council England, the Barbican, the British Academy, and the English Touring Opera amongst others. Also organizing for across the Palestinian solidarity movement and for anti-Zionist Jewish youth enfranchisement, Noga also engages deeply in queer, feminist, and sustainability projects, creatively leveraging the arts for political and social activism. Recognized by the Evening Standard, Forbes, and the Diana Award, their work spans collaborations with institutions like the Royal Society of Arts and British Academy, with writing featured in The Guardian, Reuters, and Nature is a Human Right.

Niamh Murphy

Niamh is an English-Irish cultural arts worker with a background in participatory and community-based classical music. She has worked for organisations including English Touring Opera and the Royal Ballet and Opera in communications, administration and production-based roles, and is passionate about music as a means by which to unite, protest and bring about change. Also a visual artist, Niamh is currently freelancing while studying for a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design. She has been a member of Make Freedom Ring since it was founded in January 2024.

Erin Bradshaw

Erin Bradshaw is a writer, translator, and founding member of Make Freedom Ring. She works across the publishing industry in literary agenting and international rights. She has also volunteered for many years with PEN International, supporting writers facing persecution around the world.

Alex Saoulis

Based in London, Alex Saoulis is an organiser and founding member of Make Freedom Ring. He helps manage the group’s online presence. Alex is also a co-organiser of Classical Music for Palestine, and helps facilitate industry forums to connect artists working for a free Palestine. He is currently studying for a PhD in Physics.

Support ◆ Palestine

We hope our stage can serve as a space to tell the truth of 75 years of Israeli occupation, apartheid, dispossession, and genocide — and, for once, to offer Palestinians their own platform from which to demand their right to self-determination and return.

◆ Germany ◆

Berlin Team

MFR Germany has organised concerts in the major German cities, including Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne, raising urgently needed funds for humanitarian aid and local Palestinian initiatives throughout the Gaza genocide. It has also organised events internationally, notably partnering with Lisbon Film Festival, as well as events in Barcelona and New York, amongst others.

In an environment infamously hostile to Palestinians, we put Palestinians at the centre of the stage, be it as speakers or as musicians, thus amplifying not only Palestinian lived experience, but also expertise and excellence. Our team, of which half is Palestinian, is a testament to this, with expertise in concert management, NGO work, and of course, musical excellence

Michael Barenboim

Michael Barenboim is a prominent violinist, Professor at the Barenboim-Said Akademie, and concertmaster of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Since early 2024, he has come into the spotlight for speaking out about Gaza. He is part of Make Freedom Ring, a classical musicians collective supporting Palestine, and a member of the Palestinian and Jewish Academics (PJA). He also co-curates Kilmé Talks, platforming Palestinian artists and academics, and leads Ensemble Nasmé, a classical ensemble of Palestinian musicians.

Karen Schriesheim

Karen Schriesheim is a curator, producer, and manager of classical music and art living in Berlin. She currently curates the classical programming at the Kühlhaus Berlin and manages the Intonations Chamber Music Festival. In addition to being a part of the Make Freedom Ring team, she is a soprano who frequently performs in their concerts and holds a master's degree in vocal performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Mais Hriesh

Mais Hreish is a Palestinian flautist from Nazareth and an active chamber musician. At Make Freedom Ring, she is responsible for partnership engagement and financial coordination for the Berlin chapter. In addition to her musical career, Mais is deeply committed to public service and humanitarian development work. She currently serves as the Middle East and North Africa Portfolio Manager at Save the Children Germany.

Raúl da Costa

Portuguese pianist Raúl da Costa has become one of the most compelling musical voices of his generation. Praised for the clarity and depth of his interpretations, he appears regularly on major European stages, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Palau de la Música Catalana, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lockenhaus Festival, and the Liszt Academy Budapest. Raúl is one of Make Freedom Ring’s founding members and regularly performs at their fundraising concerts across Europe.

Tyme Khleifi

Tyme Khleifi is a concert curator and manager living in Berlin. She is a violinist, born and raised in Palestine, and has been a member of Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra since 2004. In 2015, she started working at the Barenboim-Said Akademie and Pierre Boulez Saal as Ensemble Manager of the Boulez Ensemble and head of the Concert Office. Tyme has extensive experience curating and organising concerts. Prior to moving to Berlin, she completed her master's degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she also worked with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble.