Eileen Wingard

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California — Excitement is mounting as some choirs are scheduling extra rehearsals and all are making time in their practice evenings to allow for the visits of David Amos, conductor and Rhoda Gaylis, pianist. Those two outstanding musicians and community leaders will help prepare the choirs for their final numbers,

By Eileen Wingard   LOS ANGELES–Zubin Mehta entered the stage with measured, regal stride, humbly acknowledging the audience’s tumultuous applause before mounting the podium, like a king ascending his throne.  The Bombay-born musical monarch, now 75 years old, took up his baton, his royal scepter, and began leading his forces.      The loyalty and love

By Eileen Wingard      LA JOLLA, California — “Sing Out!” A Festival of Jewish Choirs will take place Sunday, April 3  at the Lawrence Family JCC’s Garfield Theater . Cosponsored by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture’s Music Series Committee and the Astor Judaica Library, the concerts will inaugurate the library’s recently organized Jewish

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO–The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) devoted its entire February 1 concert to the works of the great French composer, Camille Saint-Saens. According to Gdal Saleski, in his “Famous Musicians of Jewish Origin,” Saint-Saen was born to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father who died of consumption two months after

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO — For three nights, during our visit to Israel last December, my daughter Harriet, son-in-law Danny and I were guests in the Kfar Saba duplex apartment of Er’ella and Yoav Talmi.  Our friendship, dating back to Yoav’s years as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony, prompted the wonderful home hospitality.

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California–The third year of “Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices” at the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC opened Tuesday evening, January 18, and featured Judith Rubenstein, Howard Rubenstein and  Ron Horvitz. Each of the featured poets read 15 to 20 minutes from their original works. Judith Rubenstein played selections of

By Eileen Wingard NEW YORK– A ten-year-old violin prodigy, Mark Karlinsky, a thirteen-year old Israeli-Chinese pianist, Motti Bentov, two male dancers, Joseph Chaikin and Tal Adler-Arieli, the celebrated violin and piano siblings Gil and Orly Shaham, and a Rock Band, Shorashim were part of the eclectic mix at the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Gala Concert last

By Eileen Wingard LA JOLLA, California–Judy and Howard Rubenstein will be joined by songwriter Ron Horvitz as the featured presenters for Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices next Tuesday evening, January 18, 7: 30 pm at the Astor Judaica Library, Lawrence Family JCC. This free series, showcasing local poets and song writers, will begin its third consecutive year. 

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra (TICO) is to be congratulated for doing a great “mitzvah” by featuring the works of four  unfamiliar composers, three of them alive today. All three living composers were present at the performances last month, at the La Jolla Country Day School, November 14, and at Tifereth

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –I spent the entire month of October on the East Coast, book-ended by two concerts featuring my younger sister, Violinist Zina Schiff. On Saturday evening, October 2, in the New England Conservatory’s excellent Jordan Hall, Zina performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Longwood Symphony under the direction of Jonathan

By Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO–Bridge Records, a new  label, has produced some adventurous recordings. In 2007, the company introduced a collection of songs by Sefan Wolpe (1902-1972), an unheralded genius whose lyrics were in German, Yiddish, Hebrew and English. There followed other Wolpe albums such as a children’s puppet show tale, Lazy Andy Ant.  Additional