By Eileen Wingard EL CAJON, California — Jazz violinist, pianist and composer, David Morales Boroff, was clearly the star of the Gala Fundraiser for the Music Department of Grossmont College. This attractive, talented 19-year-old, the recipient of a President’s Scholarship (four years of free tuition and housing) from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Rachel Barton Pine informed us, as she opened her recital at San Diego State University, that she was not Jewish. In fact, with the exception of the Nigun by Bloch and the Hebrew Melody of Achron, she had never played any of the selections on the Jewish Studies program [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO–As a teenager growing up in her native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Myrna Cohen was already soloing with the Conservative Synagogue Choir where her mother, Goldie, an opera singer, was a hired professional. Myrna was the soloist at her confirmation and went on to teach music at religious schools and Jewish camps. The [...]
By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The fifth season of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” concluded last month at the Astor Judaica Library in the Lawrence Family JCC. During its first five seasons, the series featured local poets and song writers expressing themselves not only in English, but also in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, Russian, Spanish and [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Yale Strom expresses pride for his latest documentary, Letter to Wedgewood, which will be screened at 4:00 p.m. this Sunday, March 10 at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Blvd., San Diego. It not only features extensive interviews with Gabriella Labson, the subject of the film, but it has photos, letters [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — An amazing letter written by 21-year-old Gabriella Labson from Munkarcs, Czechoslovakia, to Lord Josiah Wedgewood in London, resulted in the rescue of Gabriella and her younger brother from the Nazi scourge. Lord Wedgewood was a member of the British House of Lords, a gentile Zionist who had visited Munkarcs, [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — For over a decade, the renowned American conductor, Murry Sidlin, has been consumed by his Defiant Requiem project. Sidlin strongly identified with the zealous conductor of Terezin, Raphael Schaechter, and wanted to bring to life the unique cultural resistance which took place in the Nazi show ghetto of Terezin. [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO), under the direction of David Amos, featured two impressive artists: composer, Mark Donnelly, introducing his engaging three-movement Hawai’ian Rhapsody, Ho’omaka Ana, and internationally-recognized guitarist, Gregg Nestor, performing selections by Joaquin Rodrigo and Luigi Boccherini. Donnelly, who plays oboe and English Horn in the [...]
By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” hosted an exciting array of poets Saturday evening, Jan. 19, at the Astor Judaica Library. The three featured poets, Rabbi Patti Haskell, Ysmael Escudero Tisnado II and Joni Gurstein, attracted an audience of 40 listeners. Below are two examples from each of the talented presenters. Ysmael writes [...]
By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices will continue in the Astor Judaica Library for the fifth year with three Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., January 15, February 19 and March 12. These programs of poetry readings are open to the public at no charge. The first hour has three featured poets followed [...]