The Arts

Cantor Merel’s life story now on video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKSf-1YCrQ&feature=youtu.be By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO —  I suppose it’s not unusual for a cantor to be able to sing show tunes and operatic arias in addition to Hebrew prayer melodies.  But when the cantor still can hit the high notes at age 93, that’s truly remarkable. Cantor Sheldon Merel, the cantor emeritus of […]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

$11,000 in grants encourage arts in schools

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – Fourteen teachers from the San Diego Unified School District have been awarded a combined $11,000 in grants to pursue artistic projects with their students thanks to the new non-profit VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts) Foundation. The newly established Foundation awarded teacher grants ranging from $500 to $2,500 during this inaugural

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Queen for a Day’ tells of parenting an autistic child

Queen for a Day by Maxine Rosaler; Delphinium Books, © 2018; 9718832-85753; 243 pages. By Donald H. Harrison   SAN DIEGO – In this novel, Mimi is the mother of a strange, yet wonderful, boy named Danny.  At first, Mimi didn’t want to admit that her son was developmentally disabled; she told herself repeatedly that

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison

‘Soul Doctor,’ story of Shlomo Carlebach, opens April 3

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) — You don’t have to be Jewish to love Shlomo — but it helps. The biographical musical Soul Doctor tells the incredible story of real-life “singing rabbi” Shlomo Carlebach and his unlikely friendship with Nina Simone, the high priestess of soul.  A smash hit off Broadway, this spirited San Diego production begins

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San Diego Calendar, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Jewish Trivia Quiz: Jimmy Kimmel

By Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Jimmy Kimmel hosted last night’s Academy Awards ceremony. It’s a common misconception that Kimmel is Jewish; in fact, he is Catholic. But he has had Jewish-themed comedy sketches on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Which of the following was one of Kimmel’s Jewish bits? A. One of Kimmel’s regular bits is

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire

When trauma is transmitted parent to child

Elizabeth Rosner, Survivor Café, The Legacy of Trauma [and the] Labyrinth of Memory (Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2017) 270 pages, $26 © Oliver B. Pollak  RICHMOND, California — Elizabeth Rosner comes to trauma study under unique personal circumstances. Her father, Carl Rosner originally of Hamburg, was freed from Buchenwald concentration camp at the age of 15 in 1945

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish History, Oliver Pollak

Poretzky electrifies with Habanera encore

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Russian-born Susana Poretzky, an outstanding mezzo soprano, who sang in Israel for many years, was the soloist with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) at its January 30 concert at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. I have heard Poretzky on several occasions and was thrilled by her rendition of Mahler’s Lieder Eines

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County

Story tellers hold forth March 17 at Encinitas Library

  ENCINITAS, California (Press Release) — Featuring more than two dozen storytellers, some full-time and internationally known, a storytelling festival March 17 at the Encinitas Library (540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas) is being held in conjunction with World Storytelling Day, when performances, concerts and festivals all over the world celebrate the art of storytelling.  The San

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eric George Tauber, San Diego Calendar

Jewish poets read their works at Lawrence Family JCC

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California  — The tenth anniversary of Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices was ushered in with an impressive line-up of featured poets. The January 23 program in the Astor Judaica Library at the Lawrence Family JCC opened with Chris Baron, Professor of English at San Diego City College.  His book of poems, Under

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, San Diego County