Tom Cohen

Winner of the prestigious Turkish "Altin Objectif" award, 2021 - conductor, musician, artistic and musical director, and cultural entrepreneur, Tom Cohen is internationally recognised for fusing musical styles from East and West to create Levant Music - a new musical language.
Classically trained and steeped in the music of North Africa and Arab countries, Cohen combines Western musicians and Arabic instrument virtuosi to bring Levant Music to orchestras and ensembles as diverse as The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and the orchestras he’s founded in Israel, Morocco, Belgium and Canada.
As the founder, arranger, chief conductor and musical director of The Jerusalem Orchestra East & West he has presented the orchestra not only in its home city of Jerusalem but also across the Middle East. Cohen also founded the Symphonyat orchestra in Morocco which combines Jewish and Muslim players to huge success.
Resident in Brussels, Cohen’s numerous European activities include being Music Director of MED Orchestra which he founded to play Levant Music and regular appearances with El Gusto, an orchestra of Algerian musicians in France he has toured extensively to venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Much in demand as an artistic director and programmer, Cohen is artistic director of Arabesque, Akko’s international Arabic music festival held every August.
As well as creating arrangements for his various orchestras, Cohen is also a composer of film and TV music and has worked on some of the most successful tv shows in Israel.