Eileen Wingard

Eileen Wingard

Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.

This violin concert was a musical marathon

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — The decorated French-born violinist, Jacques Israelievitch, who served as assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, then concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony followed by a two-decade stint as concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony, undertook a marathon performance challenge: playing three violin concerti in one evening! The three concerti, performed

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Eileen Wingard

Avital’s mandolin featured in unique concert

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — Last month, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) concluded its Chamber Music Series at the Scripps Research Institute Auditorium with a program featuring an unusual instrument for classical chamber music concerts, the mandolin. That plucked folk instrument, in the hands of the Israeli-born mandolin virtuoso, Avi Avital, combined with string

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Eileen Wingard

Temple Emanu-El to salute singer Myrna Cohen May 4

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO–As a teenager growing up in her native Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Myrna Cohen was already soloing with the Conservative Synagogue Choir where her mother, Goldie, an opera singer, was a hired professional. Myrna was the soloist at her confirmation and went on to teach music at religious schools and Jewish camps. The

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Eileen Wingard, San Diego County

A potpourri of Jewish poetry

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — The fifth season of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” concluded  last month at the Astor Judaica Library in the Lawrence Family JCC. During its first five seasons, the series featured local poets and song writers expressing themselves not only in English, but also in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, Russian, Spanish and

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Eileen Wingard

TICO concert offered classical music with Spanish, Hawaiian flavors

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO), under the direction of David Amos, featured two impressive artists: composer, Mark Donnelly, introducing his engaging three-movement Hawai’ian Rhapsody, Ho’omaka Ana, and internationally-recognized guitarist, Gregg Nestor, performing selections by Joaquin Rodrigo and Luigi Boccherini. Donnelly, who plays oboe and English Horn in the

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Eileen Wingard

Selections from three Jewish poets

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” hosted an exciting array of poets Saturday evening, Jan. 19, at the Astor Judaica Library. The three featured poets, Rabbi Patti Haskell, Ysmael Escudero Tisnado II and Joni Gurstein, attracted an audience of 40 listeners. Below are two examples from each of the talented presenters.  Ysmael writes

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Eileen Wingard