Duo Amal – celebrated Israeli-Palestinian piano duo – returns with screenings of award-winning new documentary in NYC, San Francisco, L.A., where duo performs live, & many more
(November 2025) — “We don’t play to escape the world. We play to stay human inside it,” say Bishara Haroni and Yaron Kohlberg, the two pianists of Duo Amal. The Israeli-Palestinian piano duo is the subject of AMAL / Hope (2025), a new documentary short from Chinese-American filmmaker Eros Zhao. After winning “Best Documentary Short” at this year’s Bali International Film Festival, the film may be seen this fall in San Francisco (Nov 7), Los Angeles (Nov 8), Pasadena (Nov 9), Santa Ana (Nov 9), St. Louis (Nov 13), New York (Nov 13), Tel Aviv (Nov 21), and Berlin (Nov 25), before coming to Los Angeles’s Zipper Hall early next year, when the screening will accompany a live performance by Duo Amal (Jan 10).
See the AMAL / Hope trailer.
Taking its name from the Arabic word for hope, Duo Amal embodies Haroni and Kohlberg’s shared belief in the transcendent and healing power of music. Indeed, by uniting artists from opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the ensemble has been hailed as a beacon of hope. Their collaboration is rooted in the exceptional musical compatibility and deep, transformative friendship that have sustained both pianists for the past 25 years.
“It’s very hard to find great musicians that have the same taste. To feel such a deep connection, that’s very rare,” reflects Haroni, who considers Kohlberg his “greatest music teacher.”
“Bishara is one of the closest people to me in the world. I’m still learning all the time from him,” affirms Kohlberg. “Our friendship has really changed me as a person.”
The two explain:
“Every performance is a conversation between us. The piano becomes our shared language – where we listen, respond, disagree, harmonize. It’s not about erasing differences, but exploring what’s possible when we truly listen.”
Commentators are quick to sense their special synergy. “This is not only a wonderful sign of friendship between their people but certainly a musical collaboration to enjoy,” says eminent conductor Zubin Mehta. “It’s hard to imagine that these two pianists, so synchronized in their music-making, grew up in such different worlds,” writes The World. As Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald puts it, “Duo Amal is clearly like-minded, with the two pianists close friends, something that translates into their performance: synchronised, empathetic and, at times, with an edge of humour.”
The pianists were born just 100 miles apart, Haroni to a Palestinian family in Nazareth and Kohlberg to a Jewish one in Jerusalem, where the two first met as teenagers. Impressed by one another’s playing, each started attending the other’s performances, and their casual acquaintance gradually blossomed into something more meaningful. They made their first public appearance together in 2008, playing duets in a peace-themed concert at Norway’s Oslo Opera House. Since then, Duo Amal has performed at leading venues worldwide, from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and Cleveland’s Severance Hall to the Beethovenfest Bonn, City of London Festival, Beijing Concert Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, and United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
Both artists recognize their collaboration as the most fulfilling and important of their careers. Having toured together less frequently in recent years while prioritizing solo roles and projects, now they are primed once more to take Duo Amal center stage. They say:
“This reunion isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about necessity. The world has grown louder, more divided, more fragile. But our friendship remains, as does our need to make something beautiful across the lines that others say should divide us.”
Ultimately, they agree:
“We are not here to offer answers. We are here to offer music – complicated, layered, sometimes dissonant, sometimes breathtakingly in sync. Just like the story we share.”
That shared story is captured in Zhao’s AMAL / Hope. Calling the documentary “a heartfelt story about how ‘the same’ we are, despite our sometimes very stark differences,” the Bali International Film Festival jury concluded:
“The music scenes, they say as much as the words, about how these two musicians have managed to meld together into one voice. AMAL / Hope is a perfect name and a great film.”
* * * * *
Both members of Duo Amal also maintain active solo careers. Since graduating from Germany’s Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, Bishara Haroni has appeared in recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall and, as a concerto soloist, has performed with orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Valencia Symphony, and Palestinian Chamber Orchestra, under such world-class conductors as Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, and Daniel Barenboim, with whom he appeared at London’s BBC Proms. A dedicated chamber musician, he has also collaborated with leading musicians at prestigious venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Salzburg Mozarteum, and London’s Royal Albert Hall, and with artists including Gary Hoffman, Nobuko Imai, and Berlin Philharmonic concertmasters Guy Braunstein and Daishin Kashimoto.
Born in Jerusalem, Steinway artist Yaron Kohlberg is dedicated to engaging and inspiring audiences through traditional and nontraditional performances, developing creative programming, and supporting emerging artists. He is the winner of ten international prizes, including silver medal at the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC). In addition to solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, and other venues, he has performed with such prominent ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Beijing Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and Copenhagen Philharmonic, with conductors including Thomas Søndergård, Jahja Ling, and Ryan McAdams. He has served as Artistic Director of CIPC’s organizing body, Piano Cleveland, since 2018.
Duo Amal: upcoming engagements & events
To RSVP to screenings, click here.
Nov 7
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 8
Los Angeles, CA
UCLA
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 9
Pasadena, CA
Steinway Piano Gallery
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 9
Santa Ana, CA
Bowers Museum
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 13
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis International Film Festival
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 13
New York, NY
Bryant Park Hotel
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 21
Tel Aviv, Israel
Venue TBA
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Nov 25
Berlin, Germany
Venue TBA
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Jan 10
Los Angeles, CA
Zipper Hall, Colburn School
Screening of AMAL / Hope (2025), dir. Eros Zhao
Live duo recital (rep. TBA)