By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — The second program of the three-part series, Treasures from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library, “Liturgical Treasures from the Music Collection,” will be aired on Zoom, Wednesday, April 20, 7 p.m. This is the link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpdeiqqz4vG9Ol6VM-vbIaHEDF07Bl1JRV
I will once again host the event and my two guests will be South African native, Rhoda Gaylis, founder of the San Diego Jewish Mens’ Choir and Chicago-born Morris (Mo) Gold, who sings in the San Diego Mens’ Choir and has participated in liturgical ensembles since childhood.
Rhoda was the teacher of Cantor Joseph Malovany, one of the cantors on the program, who will sing a version of Eliyahu Hanovi with the Moscow Mens’ Choir. Mo remembers having heard many of the featured cantors in person, such as Pierre Pinchik, who will sing Av Harachamim; the Metropolitan Opera star, Richard Tucker, who will sing “Yiru Eineinu;” and Alberto Mizrachi, who will sing “Tal;” all with the Eastern European Nusach, or traditional cantillation.
The musical examples will include Louis Lewandowski’s “Hallelujah,” sung by the San Diego Mens’ Choir under the direction of their current director, Ruth Weber. This choral work illustrates the music of the Neu Synagogue in 19th century Berlin, the largest Reform congregation where Lewandowski served as cantor. This music displays the influence of German composers, such as Bach and Mendelssohn, on the reform Jewish liturgy.
Another interesting recording is that of Sephardic liturgical music recorded in the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London where that Sephardic house of worship was established in 1970 by Converso Jews coming from Amsterdam, where they first settled after leaving Spain.
Cantor Alissa Pomerantz-Boro will be heard singing her original “Modim—We Give Thanks.” She served as cantor at the San Diego Conservative Synagogue, Tifereth Israel for 13 years and now is the cantor at Temple Beth El in Voorhies, New Jersey. From 2017-19, she served as president of the Conservative Cantors’ Assembly.
Debbie Friedman, self-taught and coming from the ranks of camp song leaders, has written some of the best-loved songs in the American Reform and Conservative liturgy and was often heard at Temple Emanuel and at the Lawrence Family JCC in San Diego. We will hear her joyous, “Miriam’s Song.”
Finally, Sam Glaser, who often served as cantor for high holidays at Temple Beth El in La Jolla, will be heard in a medley of Carlebach songs.
As an encore, we will hear Cantor Sheldon Merel once more in Search for Freedom, from the Passover Oratorio, “Haggadah” by composer Morton Gold and lyricist Harold Lerner. He will be accompanied by the Jewish Community Center Orchestra, now renamed the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra or TICO, under the direction of conductor David Amos, my guest at the first program in this series, Tastes from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library.
Liturgical Treasures will open with an excerpt by Cantor Joseph Rosenblatt, considered the greatest cantor of his day.
The final program in this series will be: Klezmer Treasures from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library and will take place Wednesday evening, May 25, 7 p.m. You are all invited to attend.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com