Eileen Wingard

Eileen Wingard

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

Voices of Jewish Opera Stars to be Savored at the JCC on Nov. 14

“Jews in Opera” will feature the recorded voices of 15 outstanding Jewish opera singers at 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov.14, in the Astor Judaic Library of the Lawrence Family JCC. Many of the recordings are from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library. I will be hosting the program, and my in-person guest will be the distinguished Ukrainian-born mezzo soprano, Susanna Poretsky. [Eileen Wingard]

Voices of Jewish Opera Stars to be Savored at the JCC on Nov. 14 Read More »

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

50-Year-Old Takács String Quartet Performs Here with One Original Member

Of the original four student members at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, only the cellist, 75-year-old András Fejér, remains. But the uncanny melding of their instrumental voices into a unified whole continues to characterize their playing … [Eileen Wingard]

50-Year-Old Takács String Quartet Performs Here with One Original Member Read More »

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

Emanuel Ax Flawlessly Performs Mozart in San Diego Symphony Concert

Ax is a no-nonsense player, performing flawlessly, with elegance and grace. There were no histrionics, no dramatic gestures, there was just honest perfection.  And the orchestra, with reduced strings, one timpani, one flute and pairs of oboes, bassoons, trumpets and horns, provided beautiful, nuanced support under Raphael Payare s direction. [Eileen Wingard]

Emanuel Ax Flawlessly Performs Mozart in San Diego Symphony Concert Read More »

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

Zukerman Performance and Schoenberg Composition Showcase Jewish Musical Talent

With a Jewish soloist, violinist Pinchas Zukerman, in the first half of the program and a tone poem by a Jewish composer, Arnold Schoenberg, in the second half, last Sunday’s San Diego Symphony concert seemed tailored for this Jewish holiday season. [Eileen Wingard]

Zukerman Performance and Schoenberg Composition Showcase Jewish Musical Talent Read More »

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

Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony Inaugurates Refurbished Music Hall

The San Diego Symphony’s opening concert of its subscription series featured Mahler’s Symphony #2, “Resurrection,” an appropriate choice as the orchestra resumes residency in its beautifully refurbished hall, now renamed, the Jacobs Music Center. [Eileen Wingard]

Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony Inaugurates Refurbished Music Hall Read More »

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

Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre to be Highlighted Sept. 12 at the JCC

As curator and moderator of these programs, I am pleased to have as my guest the outstanding scholar of the Yiddish Theater, Ron Robboy, who will share in the introductions of the 14-selection playlist.  [Eileen Wingard]

Great Songs of the Yiddish Theatre to be Highlighted Sept. 12 at the JCC Read More »

Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

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]

Transformed Jacobs Music Center Features Highly Improved Acoustics Read More »

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

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]

Works of Rachmaninoff, Rozsa Delight SummerFest Audience Read More »

Eileen Wingard, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, 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]

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

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

TICO Performs a Fourth Fifth and a First

Before intermission, we heard Silence, a world premiere by John Michael Luther, based on a poem written by Conductor Amos’ granddaughter, Piper Gillett, when she was 13 years old. The work made a profound impression, especially remarkable that the words were written by one so young, and inspired such an interesting setting by composer Luther. [Eileen Wingard]

TICO Performs a Fourth Fifth and a First Read More »

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

LFJCC Will Present 13 Songs by the Late Cantor Sheldon Merel

Hebrew liturgical works by 20th century composers will include, “Hashkiveynu,” and “Avinu Malkenu,” by Max Janowski, “La Kol Z’man,” and “Shalom Rav,” by Ben Steinberg, “Kiddush,” by Kurt Weill, “L’Shana Haba B’Yerushalayim,” by Morton Gold and a setting of the “Kol Nidre,” by Max Helfman.  [Eileen Wingard]

LFJCC Will Present 13 Songs by the Late Cantor Sheldon Merel Read More »

Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel, z"l, Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA