Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Felder’s ‘Before Fiddler’ Highlights Music of Sholem Aleichem Era

Hershey Felder continues to stream one-man shows from his current residence in Florence, Italy. Among his many portrayals of famous composers such as Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikowsky and Debussy, he also featured three great Jewish composers, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. For his current offering, Before Fiddler,  he once again dips into his Jewish heritage for inspiration, this time, portraying the great Yiddish novelist, playwright and story teller, Sholem Aleichem, on whose stories the libretto of Fiddler On The Roof was based. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Lady Gaga to perform US anthem at Joe Biden’s inauguration

Lady Gaga will sing the US national anthem at Joe Biden’s inauguration. The 34-year-old pop star is set to perform ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ when Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States respectively on January 20. Gaga will join the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato,

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA

Art as Liberation: The Mexican Muralists at the Whitney Museum

Vida Americana is an exhilarating, expansive and immensely satisfying exhibition at New York’s Whitney Museum. Like a great and varied feast, this is a show that one must take one’s time to fully appreciate and digest; an exhibition that includes photography, film, sculpture, charcoal sketches, colored pencil and graphite, watercolors, lithographs and oil paintings, from the easel to the epic in scale. Not only are the greatest Mexican artists of the twentieth century represented here – including Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros (‘Los Tres Grandes’) – but also many of the notable American artists who they had a profound influence on, such as Jackson Pollock, Jacob Lawrence, Marion Greenwood and Charles White, among others. [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir

Streaming Jewish Programs (January 17-23, 2021) 

SAN DIEGO – Following are Jewish-interest programs intended for academic and lay audiences that may be accessed via the Internet All times are Pacific Standard Time. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

U.S. Attorney in San Diego investigating local connections to Capitol riot

U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer has announced his office in San Diego “will work closely with our law enforcement partners, including the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, to ensue that any individuals from San Diego or Imperial Counties who were involved in criminal activity at the U.S. Capitol are brought to justice.  If we determine that federal charges should be brought in this District, we will aggressively prosecute all such matters.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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

Streaming Jewish Programs (January 10-16, 2021)

Following are streaming Jewish programs of academic and lay interest that may be accessed via the Internet.  All times Are Pacific Standard Time. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

There are museums for so many interests

The Reader’s Digest in July 2019 highlighted one quirky museum per state: the Alaska Hammer Museum;  the Banana Museum in Mecca, in California’s Riverside County; Colorado’s Washing Machine;  Mississippi’s Apron;  Iowa’s Matchstick;  and Ohio’s Pencil Sharpener museum. These are brick and mortar museums with street addresses, not the burgeoning online website museum. The author, Marissa Laliberte, overlooked the venerable Kool-Aid Museum in Hastings, Nebraska, in favor of the Klown Doll Museum in Plainview. I’ve been to the Mustard Museum in Horab, Wisconsin, and Idaho’s Potato Museum in Blackfoot. [Oliver B. Pollak, Ph.D]

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International, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Oliver Pollak, Travel and Food, USA

Legendary Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis dies age 98

Ivry Gitlis, arguably the last great 20th-century violinist, died on December 24 in Paris aged 98.Born in 1922 in Haifa into a family of immigrants from Ukraine, he got his first violin at age five.At eight, as a child prodigy, he was introduced to the founder of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Bronislaw Huberman. The latter

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Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Exploring Jewish and Chinese connections in San Diego

Li-rong (Lilly) Cheng, Ph.D., director of the Chinese Cultural Center at San Diego State University, loves well-told stories about China, whether they be fiction or non fiction. Over the years, she has been involved in promulgating stories of each type, and in two particular cases, the story telling has involved Jews. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Parody: California Lockdown

Tune: California Dreaming

All the beds are full
In the ICUs                                                                                                                                                    
I must stay at home.                                                                                                                                               
Watch TV or snooze.
Am I safe from Covid
If I live in L.A?
California lockdown
On such a winter’s day. … {Laurie Baron]

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Lawrence Baron, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

San Diegan wins posthumous plaudits for his rendition of a Chinese musical

Romance of the Western Chamber is a 2 1/2- hour musical based on a play that first appeared in China as Xi Xiang Ji in the 13th century. It is a lovely love story of a poor 23-year-old man and rich 19-year-old woman who fell in love at first sight. The original play ran for about 20 hours. It was the most famous love story in Chinese literature and was made into a movie and several Beijing operas. It was adapted and turned into a musical by the late Dr. Howard Rubenstein, a San Diego physician and playwright who wrote ten very interesting plays. Rubenstein revised the play into modern English, reduced its time, and had Max Lee write music for it.

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International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

The artist as ‘hooligan’ on exhibit at NYC’s Pace Gallery

The Hooligans is Ghenie’s fourth solo exhibition at Pace Gallery, comprised of nine paintings and three drawings, all produced during this last year. It is a sustained engagement with European painting, including J.M.W. Turner, the Impressionists, and post-Impressionists, particularly Van Gogh and Gaugin. Ghenie remarks in a statement about this new body of work: “When I look at the Impressionists, I have the strange feeling that I am looking at something very schizophrenic. Behind those harmless colorful landscapes there is an incredible, destructive force; camouflaged. It is an act of hooliganism.” [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USA

Jews, Muslims and Bacon (!) at a Christmas Party

Our Christmas party happened to fall on the sixth day of Chanukah, so I wanted to contribute. What I used to do at my school was bring in homemade sufganiyot using whole wheat flour with nutmeg mixed into the dough, fill them with jam and fry them up in coconut oil. These treats would be proudly presented in a basket with a sign that read “You don’t have to be Jewish to have a Happy Chanukah!” [Eric George Tauber]

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Eric George Tauber, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Good News From Israel (December 20, 2020)

In the December 20, 2020 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

Israeli Covid-19 vaccine goes into Phase 2 trials as Israel rolls out the Pfizer vaccine.
Israel and Bhutan have established full diplomatic relations.
An Israeli smart color sensor can prevent massive food waste.
Israeli irrigation of rice crops saves water and the environment.
An Israeli company won a contract for its robots to clean a million solar panels.
Israel’s Wonder Woman won the first MTV “She-Ro” award.
A lost tribe’s return to Israel is one of three Israeli Chanukah “miracles”. [Michael Ordman]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA