TICO, Celebrating Golden Anniversary, Has Memorable Concert at the JCC

By Eileen Wingard

SAN DIEGO — Celebrating its 50th anniversary, TICO, the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra, under the direction of David Amos, gave a memorable concert at the Garfield Theatre of the Lawrence Family JCC Sunday, November 26.  Because of the configuration of the hall, most of the well-filled audience seats allowed visibility of all the musicians.

The upper strings, especially, projected with great presence as they held their own in Tchaikowsky’s somber and challenging Symphony #5 in E minor. The woodwinds came through beautifully with their plaintive melodies. Most notable were the clarinet solos played by principal clarinetist, Joseph Stein. Principal horn, Sandra Petersen, did a commendable job with the famous horn solo in the Andante cantabile. The Valse had just the right lilt, and the Finale: Andante maestoso–Allegro vivace concluded with majestic power, with fine support from the brass section. The 45-minute symphony filled the first half of the program.

Following intermission, there was an upbeat novelty, Danzon #2, by the Mexican composer, Arturo Marquez. Its irregular rhythmic patterns and bongo drums made one want to dance.
Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia was conducted by Robert Zelickman, newly appointed assistant conductor of TICO. His expressive conducting and attention to details confirmed what a good choice TICO made in his selection.

The concert concluded with violinist Martin Chalifour, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1995, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. The interpretation was a virtuoso tour de force. He illuminated the gracious Mendelssohn melodies with his sweet sound and consummate technique. TICO’s flutes did a fine job keeping up with him in the break-neck speed of the last movement. The audience rose to its feet after the final note.

TICO is noted for the outstanding soloists David Amos is successful in attracting.  Chalifour is a native of Canada who first graduated from the Conservatory of Montreal and then continued at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He received recognition at both the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Montreal International Competition. In addition to his duties as concertmaster, he has soloed with conductors Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Christopher Eschenbach and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

TICO will open its regular series at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Sunday, December 3 at 3  p.m. and Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. The program will be a repeat of the above except, instead of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, the Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat major is programmed featuring pianists Karen Follingstadt and Sonya Schumann, both on the faculty of SDSU.

I still recall, fifty years ago, when David and I made an appointment to speak with the director of the 54th Street JCC, Joe Astor, concerning the formation of an orchestra at the JCC.  David was young and talented with doctoral conducting studies completed and experience conducting the Patrick Henry High School Orchestra and the Civic Youth Orchestra. He was willing to donate his abilities and time to form the JCC Orchestra. I was the chair of the JCC music committee. We both entered Joe’s office, not knowing what his reaction would be, but we managed to convince him that it was important for the JCC to have an orchestra and David Amos was the person who could achieve that goal.

The orchestra grew from a chamber ensemble to a full-sized symphony orchestra and some of its members, such as clarinetist Paul Goodman and violinist Janet Gastil, have been with the orchestra all or most of those 50 years. When the 54th Street JCC closed, the orchestra moved to Tifereth Israel Synagogue and was renamed as TICO.

In addition to his musical ability, David has been able to engender the affection and loyalty of his volunteer musicians. During the intervening years, David gained international recognition with his acclaimed 36 CDs featuring orchestras of England, Israel, Scotland, Slovakia, Russia, Lithuania, and Poland.

Bravo to TICO and David Amos on the orchestra’s 50th Anniversary!

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