SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eight months after Hamas’ attack on Israel, an Israeli musician is working to bring music to Sacramento Saturday.
Omer Ben Seadia stages and directs operas for a living and isin Sacramento this weekend to work on the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera's season finale Saturday. She says she and her husband were in Israel Oct. 4, 2023 for an opera she was set to direct Oct. 12, 2023.
Days after they landed in Israel, Hamas attacked a large concert where the Israeli government says 1,200 people were killed.
Seadia says she and other artists didn’t let this stand in their way. She says the opera she was meant to direct in October eventually went on in December and people were flown in at the last minute due to safety concerns.
“We put together a show that was probably one of the most moving and artistically and emotionally satisfying things that I've done because our audience was coming, for the first time since the war started, to a theater to come together and watch opera, to create opera,” she said. “It was a very emotional experience to make it. And we ended up dedicating the show to a lot of the people who lost their lives.”
Though the war is still ongoing, she says it felt essential to find a way to keep the music going.
“It was absolutely something I hope I never have to do again, but was very fortunate that I was able to bring that to the audience,” said Seadia.
She is now directing an opera with the Sacramento Philharmonic and more information can be found here. Read more about the ongoing war here.
WATCH MORE: Sacramento State students in pro-Palestinian encampment declare victory amid policy change
