Concert in Jordan a personal triumph for Zukerman

Pinchas Zukerman had breakfast in Tel Aviv and dinner in Jordan Tuesday, in advance of a concert that will mark a personal triumph for the Israeli-born music director of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Wednesday evening, Zukerman is to play at the Petra Conference for Nobel Laureates, in Petra, Jordan, before an audience that will include Jordan's King Abdullah, Israel's Shimon Peres and the Dalai Lama.

However, it's not the guest list, which includes scientists and intellectuals from around the world, that has him so chuffed. It's the idea that a musician who was born a few months after the creation of the Israeli state and grew up thinking of his Jordanian neighbours as the enemy could come to Jordan and play for a group of 300 people from around the world.