Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Transformed Jacobs Music Center Features Highly Improved Acoustics

Even more impressive than the newly achieved grandeur of the hall were the improved acoustics of the Jacobs Music Center. We were seated in the very last row of the downstairs, under the balcony overhang, over to the extreme right, and every sound, every nuance reached our ears with pure clarity, from the hushed solo violin strokes of Tchaikovsky’s “Canzonetta” to the bold final utterances of Orff’s “O fortuna,” for full chorus and orchestra.  [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Itzhak Perlman

Courtesy of Wikipedia Itzhak Perlman (August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. He has conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Westchester Philharmonic. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential

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Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Works of Rachmaninoff, Rozsa Delight SummerFest Audience

The dynamic classical/jazz pianist, Conrad Tao, opened the August 17 SummerFest concert, California Dreamin’, with eight selections connected to Sergei Rachmaninoff, who spent his last years in Los Angeles after immigrating from his native Russia. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Farmer Max Yasgur Made the Woodstock Festival Possible

Woodstock, the iconic “Hippie” counter-culture music festival, was celebrated by ~460,000 baby boomers from August 15 to 18, 1969. The “happening” was on the rolling hills of Max Yasgur’s Dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. It almost never came about. [Jerry Klinger]

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Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Satire: Trump’s Campaign Songs

What was telling is that the song from the movie Titanic implies Trump’s bid for his second term is sinking and that he is drowning like Jack in the film. One wonders what other messages his musical coordinator wants to convey with his selections of music for Trump’s appearances. Here are my predictions. [Laurie Baron]

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

African Art, Jewish Folk Customs Enliven Intercultural Conversation

Two worlds apart but we speak the same language of art.  Olga Worm met artist Bongani Lincoln Khumalo of Cape Town, South Africa, at the Laguna Beach Art-A-Fair Summer Fine Art Festival. Subsequently he came to San Diego County to deliver a piece of art that Worm had purchased. We met at a restaurant in La Mesa. [Cailin Acosta]

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Cailin Acosta, California, International, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

SummerFest’s ‘In Loving Memory’ Program Salutes the Late Joan Jacobs

This concert’s featured works were all dedicated to the memory of people dear to their composers. Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello was in memory of his fellow impressionist composer, Debussy;  Arensky’s  Piano Trio was in memory of the great Russian cellist, Karl Davidov; and Faure’s Requiem, was written to be performed at the funeral of his dear friend, Joseph Lesoufaché, an architect. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Memoir Tells of Russian Immigrant’s Social Climb in New York City

Memoirs are typically written by famous people or by those who survived extraordinary events.  Politicians, movie stars, artists, and diplomats are in the first category.  Soldiers and Holocaust Survivors are in the second.  But who is Anya Gillinson?  How many people outside of New York City have ever heard her name?  What impelled her to write her memoir? [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Becky Guttin’s Trio of Separate Art Exhibits in San Diego and Mexico City

This has been a good year for internationally renowned artist, Becky Guttin. After the pandemic, and the passing of her beloved father, a talented artist in his own right, she has emerged from a period of mourning. She has come out with a bang artistically with three different projects. [Mimi Pollack]

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International, Mimi Pollack, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

An Israeli-American Perspective: Navigating Youth Culture in Both Countries

My early 20s in Florentin, a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv near Jaffa, were truly magical. I was part of a local band, living in the bohemian heart of the city, feeling carefree and immersed in the moment. We were a generation connected by shared experiences, yet separated by the vast cultural currents flowing through our lives. Most of us were fresh out of the IDF, eager to enjoy the freedom we had fought for. [Shahar Masori]

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Israel, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Former San Diegan Fashioned Simone Biles’ Goat Necklace

She founded and operates her own business, Janet Heller Fine Jewelry, specializing in custom pieces. She doesn’t consider herself and artisan but rather a person with the ability to transform vision into story through jewelry, with meticulous skill and precision. [Barrett Holman Leak]

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Barrett Holman Leak, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

An Israeli-American Perspective: Symbiotic Relationship of Music in Our Two Countries

Songs like “Stairway to Heaven” and “Dust in the Wind” opened me up to a much greater world and introduced me to the power of lyrics, offering a wider outlook on life. For instance, the first time I heard the lyric from Kansas, “Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea, all we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see,” I was struck by its beauty and depth. [Shahar Masori]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Shahar Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA