By David Amos
SAN DIEGO–The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra will present its second series of concerts of the 2012-13 season on Sunday, January 27, at 4:00 p.m., and Tuesday the 29th at 7:30 p.m.
The orchestra is in the midst of its 39th year of continuously giving concerts to the San Diego community at large. It was at first affiliated with the Jewish Community Center, and since 1995 has Tifereth Israel Synagogue as its home. During its existence, it has brought to the public beloved pieces of the standard repertoire, world renowned guest artists, and dozens of newly commissioned works, many of them on Judaic subjects. The orchestra is comprised of seventy musicians of all faiths.
Titled Faraway Lands, the upcoming January concerts will present as guest soloist the internationally acclaimed guitarist Gregg Nestor, a San Diego native. He has built up a strong following for his abilities as soloist, accompanist, and arranger. Finalist in the New York Concert Artist Guild Competition (one of 16 out of 2,800 competitors) held at Carnegie Hall, Gregg has recorded and broadcast in Holland, Belgium and Spain, and for the BBC in England for his London debut. The Times critic commented on his being “uncommonly communicative, a real artist in timing and shading, in stylish fluency and tact besides wholehearted communication with his composers”.
Over 40 works arranged by Gregg Nestor for solo/duo guitars or with various ensembles have been published with diverse groups, such as Warner Brothers Music, Boosey and Hawkes (England), and he continues to be active in music performance, recordings, and score preparation for Hollywood theatrical films and video games.
For his upcoming performances with TICO, Gregg will play Joaquín Rodrigo’s popular Fantasía Para Un Gentilhombre, and Luigi Boccherini’s Introduction and Fandango, a concert favorite for guitar, strings, and castanets. You will immediately recognize the Rodrigo work; it is the signature I.D. theme for XLNC Radio.
TICO will play the world premiere of Ho’Omaka Ana, A Hawaiian Rhapsody in Three Movements. It was composed by Mark Donnelly, TICO’s second oboe and English Horn Player, graphic designer, and occasional composer. His original work, Amarna was premiered by TICO in 2010. He started his musical training in Southern Arizona, where he was the principal oboe of the Tucson Youth Symphony for two seasons. He composed an original score, Love’s Labours Lost for the University of Arizona’s Theatre Department. At the same time, he composed, scored, and recorded three student films. He also taught at the InterlochenArtsAcademy, and worked in a think tank at Disneyland. After moving to San Diego, he has made numerous arrangements for wind ensemble, for the San Diego Concert Band and the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble.
Ho’Omaka Ana ‘s first movement, NA’PALI, evokes Tahitian explorers who first colonized the islands. It is followed by GARDEN ISLE, a tender musical description of Kauai, and the conclusion is KILAUEA, the volcanoes in all of the islands, the volcano goddess, and the sea goddess who, according to legend, repeatedly saved the day.
The musical score is rich in orchestral colors, and it includes instruments that are seldom heard in a traditional orchestra, such as the steel guitar, the ukulele, the conch shell, and Polynesian and Hawaiian drums.
The orchestra will open the concert with the Introduction and Cortege, from “Le Coq D’or”, by Rimsky-Korsakov.
The January 27 concert will be held at the Chula Vista First United Methodist Church; the concert of Tuesday the 29th will be at the orchestra’s home, Tifereth Israel Synagogue.
For more information, individual or group tickets, reservations, directions, or a season brochure, call (619) 697 6001, or you can buy tickets online at www.tiferethisrael.com/TICO.
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Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchesta and has conducted professional orchestras around the world. He may be contacted via david.amos@sdjewishworld.com