By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – It would be hard to estimate how many of the hundreds of persons who attended the outdoor concert of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra on Sunday evening, July 17, at the Allied Gardens Community Center knew the meaning of the Yiddish word haimische, but all of them certainly experienced a haimische,
or a “warm and homey” concert led by Conductor David Amos on what they learned was his and the former Lee “Bunny” Feurzeig’s 45th wedding anniversary.
The Amoses actually pre-celebrated their sapphire anniversary in leisurely fashion the night before at Mr. A’s Restaurant, where Lee sampled the braised prime rib, and the maestro conducted his way through a rib-eye steak.
There were other special occasions announced as well at the concert, among them that Juanita Cummings was playing her next-to-last time as concert master due to persistent health problems. The program consisting mainly of marches and show tunes will be repeated at 3 p.m., Sunday, July 24, at Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 6660 Cowles Mountain Boulevard, and Cummings plans to stay on until
then. Thereafter she’ll be succeeded as concertmaster by Adrian Bubb.
Ralph Barnes, who heads the congregation’s TICO committee, told the audience that Amos rehearses the 75-piece orchestra every Tuesday night, and that if any audience member were to stop by the social hall of the Conservative synagogue on that evening, they would hear a whip cracking.
Taking it all in good humor, Amos proceeded to lead the orchestra up to intermission in John Philip Sousa’s “Freelance March,” followed by a medley of songs from Les Miserables, Genaro Codina’s “March of Zacatecas,” Jaime Texidor’s “Amparito Roca,” a medley of John Williams’
melodies from the movie Jurassic Park, and a medley of service hymns in salute to American troops serving overseas. At Amos’s request, as the orchestra played and to the cheers of the crowd, audience members who had served in the Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force or Navy stood up as their service hymn was sounded. As one would expect in San Diego, the largest contingent by far had served in the Navy.
While the orchestra performed, one could, of course, watch the conductor, or scan the musicians who were arranged from left to right, in sections for percussion, violin, viola, cello, and bass, and in the back row, with their backs against the rear baffle, the various players in the wind section. All of the orchestra members were dressed in white shirts or blouses except for one bass player, who apparently did not receive the memo. She was dressed in black. A violinist later in the concert pulled a black sweater over her white blouse, either because she was cold or kindly disposed towards her colleague.
This being an outdoor concert, there were other sights to capture one’s attention. There were four people in the audience who spread the same blanket over their laps. There were tandem bicyclists and skateboarders who seemed to float behind the baffle, basketball players who could be seen to the rear left of the orchestra pit, and a netless volleyball game involving players who passed the ball back and forth on a lawn to the left of
the audience. There were also youngsters on swings, on occasion keeping perfect time with the music.
There was an airplane for which conductor Amos waited before starting one of the selections, in a freeze of action reminiscent of the Starlight Theatre in Balboa Park, which is located right under Lindbergh Field’s flight path. There was a flock of birds directly overhead, dogs being walked
by their owners, and other canines sitting in the audience obviously enjoying the music, none of them even bach-ing.
At intermission, Barnes and other volunteers passed contribution buckets around the audience, and he later reported that the spectators had been quite generous to the orchestra. There were volunteers at stands selling soft drinks and cotton candy, and, to add to the excitement,
a brief power outage.
Don Brennan—an event producer who maintains the www.navajoevents.com website to keep people in Allied Gardens and nearby communities informed about concerts and other area happenings – notified attendees before the second half of the concert that a power outage might occur again, but not to worry. He predictedthat the lights would dim, the volume would go down, and that within moments both would be restored. Sure enough that is what happened.
The second half of the concert featured two works by European composers evoking ancient Egypt. The orchestra first played Verdi’s “Triumphal March” from the opera Aida, and then performed the “Egyptian March” by Johann Strauss Jr., “the Waltz King.” For this work, Amos called to the podium Bryce Newall, principal viola, to guest conduct. At TICO’s last concert, at which he introduced a medley of themes from various Star Trek television shows, Newall delighted the audience by donning a pair of Vulcan ears worn by the character Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Now, as the audience waited in anticipation, Newall reached into a blue sports bag and pulled out a Pharaoh’s golden headdress, which he placed on his head before wielding the baton.
According to Amos, Newall had been awarded the privilege of conducting the orchestra in recognition of the many services he performs to help get the orchestra ready for rehearsals. Amos watched his temporary replacement from the bass section, and apparently was so excited by the performance that he stumbled as he returned to the podium. As many in the audience held their breath, Amos recovered his balance.
With Amos again leading the orchestra, TICO performed a medley of tunes from the Broadway Musical, My Fair Lady. One father with a little daughter on his shoulders danced to the tune of “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” and a teen zoomed by on a skateboard, ironically to the tune “Get
Me To the Church On Time.”
Next the orchestra performed the “Russian Sailor’s Dance” from Reinhold Gliere’s ballet The Red Poppy.” The final number—as is TICO’s custom at its annual outdoor concerts—was Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” for which two unidentified youngsters – a boy and a girl – were recruited
to wave flags in time with the music as the audience clapped to the rhythm.
Need I say it? The evening, under a clear summer sky, was a delight.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com