Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Return to Israel after a Vacation a Pleasure Despite All

Life in Israel is anything but sweet at the moment, with a difficult political situation, war in Gaza, over one hundred hostages still being held by Hamas and the heat of high summer. And yet, coming back to our home after being away for over a month was sweet and enjoyable. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Sept. 11 Memorial in Jerusalem Conflated with Oct. 7th Remembrance

The ceremony was held at the 9-11 Living Memorial where the names of all 2,977 of those victims are permanently engraved in an amphitheater dominated by a large empty tomb topped by a sculpted American flag with a representation of a flame at its tip. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre to be Highlighted Sept. 12 at the JCC

As curator and moderator of these programs, I am pleased to have as my guest the outstanding scholar of the Yiddish Theater, Ron Robboy, who will share in the introductions of the 14-selection playlist.  [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Activities Resume Following Labor Day in Schools, Sports and Some Jewish Organizations

Monday was Labor Day and many celebrated by working as little as possible and celebrating the “unofficial end of summer.” Why is it called the “end of summer,” yet summer technically ends Sunday, September 22? [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, California, Israel, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

The Shabbat meal, its origin, beauty, and intelligence

The Shabbat meal contains significant items, including zemirot, which are medieval songs and ancient biblical psalms. They are a powerful means of preserving and showcasing Jewish culture’s rich and diverse nature. These sacred, secular, serious, and playful lyrics praise God and the Shabbat, transforming the meal into a time of joy and inspiration. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

Transformed Jacobs Music Center Features Highly Improved Acoustics

Even more impressive than the newly achieved grandeur of the hall were the improved acoustics of the Jacobs Music Center. We were seated in the very last row of the downstairs, under the balcony overhang, over to the extreme right, and every sound, every nuance reached our ears with pure clarity, from the hushed solo violin strokes of Tchaikovsky’s “Canzonetta” to the bold final utterances of Orff’s “O fortuna,” for full chorus and orchestra.  [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Itzhak Perlman

Courtesy of Wikipedia Itzhak Perlman (August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. He has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Westchester Philharmonic. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential

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Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Works of Rachmaninoff, Rozsa Delight SummerFest Audience

The dynamic classical/jazz pianist, Conrad Tao, opened the August 17 SummerFest concert, California Dreamin’, with eight selections connected to Sergei Rachmaninoff, who spent his last years in Los Angeles after immigrating from his native Russia. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Farmer Max Yasgur Made the Woodstock Festival Possible

Woodstock, the iconic “Hippie” counter-culture music festival, was celebrated by ~460,000 baby boomers from August 15 to 18, 1969. The “happening” was on the rolling hills of Max Yasgur’s Dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. It almost never came about. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Satire: Trump’s Campaign Songs

What was telling is that the song from the movie Titanic implies Trump’s bid for his second term is sinking and that he is drowning like Jack in the film. One wonders what other messages his musical coordinator wants to convey with his selections of music for Trump’s appearances. Here are my predictions. [Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

African Art, Jewish Folk Customs Enliven Intercultural Conversation

Two worlds apart but we speak the same language of art.  Olga Worm met artist Bongani Lincoln Khumalo of Cape Town, South Africa, at the Laguna Beach Art-A-Fair Summer Fine Art Festival. Subsequently he came to San Diego County to deliver a piece of art that Worm had purchased. We met at a restaurant in La Mesa. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, California, International, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

SummerFest’s ‘In Loving Memory’ Program Salutes the Late Joan Jacobs

This concert’s featured works were all dedicated to the memory of people dear to their composers. Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello was in memory of his fellow impressionist composer, Debussy;  Arensky’s  Piano Trio was in memory of the great Russian cellist, Karl Davidov; and Faure’s Requiem, was written to be performed at the funeral of his dear friend, Joseph Lesoufaché, an architect. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Memoir Tells of Russian Immigrant’s Social Climb in New York City

Memoirs are typically written by famous people or by those who survived extraordinary events.  Politicians, movie stars, artists, and diplomats are in the first category.  Soldiers and Holocaust Survivors are in the second.  But who is Anya Gillinson?  How many people outside of New York City have ever heard her name?  What impelled her to write her memoir? [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Becky Guttin’s Trio of Separate Art Exhibits in San Diego and Mexico City

This has been a good year for internationally renowned artist, Becky Guttin. After the pandemic, and the passing of her beloved father, a talented artist in his own right, she has emerged from a period of mourning. She has come out with a bang artistically with three different projects. [Mimi Pollack]

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International, Mimi Pollack, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors