The Hush sounds of Zina Schiff’s violin

Editor’s Note: Following is another in a series of stories by Eileen Wingard about the discography of her sister, concert violinist Zina Schiff.

By Eileen Wingard

SAN DIEGO — My sister, concert violinist Zina Schiff, has championed many contemporary Jewish composers, including Australian-based David Hush (1956-). She has performed his works on two CDs: King David’s Lyre and the all-Hush recording, Nesia, released by LMA Recordings. On this disc, Zina performs six pieces for solo violin: Lachash (Incantation), Kinah (Elegy), Nesia (Journey), Sinfonia, Lullaby and Melody. She also plays Contrapuntus, a duo for violin and viola, with violist, Victoria Voronyansky. The recording concludes with Hush’s Prelude and Fugue and Sonata for cello, featuring Mirjam Ingofsson, cello and Ursula Ingofsson-Fassbind, piano.

Zina has programmed Hush’s works on three continents. San Diego performances have included recitals for the Lipinsky Jewish Arts Festival, and at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Zina also performed five Hush pieces for a special internet broadcast from Seattle in May, 2001, which reached 100,000 listeners.

In Sydney, Australia, for a gala benefit recital for the Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, she performed Hush’s remarkable Sonata for Solo Violin, the centerpiece of her CD, King David’s Lyre.

David Hush traces his linage to the Hushite family, associated in Scriptures with King David.

He was born in Bristol, England, where his father, the world-famous theoretical chemist, Noel Hush, was beginning his career. David attended Clifton College in Bristol, then, when the family moved back to Sydney, his parents’ birthplace, David continued his studies at the University of Sydney, earning degrees in Arts and Music.

He was awarded a graduate fellowship in music to Princeton University, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts and a PhD. While at Princeton, David became acquainted with Zina’s artistry and sent her his sonata to peruse. Zina was thrilled with the piece. Several years later, when Zina and her family moved back to Tiburon, California, from Shreveport, Louisiana, and Dr. Noel Hush was serving as a guest Professor in the Chemistry Department at Stanford University, David came out to visit his father. Zina remembers dining with father and son at a Chinese kosher vegan restaurant in San Francisco.

In 1993, David Hush returned to Sydney, Australia, to become the composer-in-residence at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The two sample selections from Nesia, are the title piece and Contrapuntus. Nesia was inspired by the saga of the wandering Jew, and reflects Hebraic motifs.

Contrapunctus, hearkens back to the contrapuntal style of an earlier age, although its language is contemporary.

*
Eileen Wingard is a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and a freelance writer specializing in the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com