Gonna Fly Now!
Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO)’s music director for life, announced that the orchestra’s first performance of its 2003 American tour will be a gala IPO fundraiser at the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 10.
“Intifada or no intifada, people are packing the concert halls,” Mehta said of the orchestra’s homeland success.
Joining Mehta and his wife, Nancy, at the Peninsula Hotel press conference in Beverly Hills were a clutch of IPO supporters, including gala co-chairs Margo and Irwin Winkler and Edye and Eli Broad; both couples will be honored at the concert banquet.
“The experience has been wonderful,” said Eli Broad of his years supporting the IPO. “It’s really enriched our lives. It’s a great way to not only support the orchestra, but the soul of Israel.”
“I’m a big fan,” said Irwin Winkler, the producer behind the “Rocky” series and Martin Scorcese classics such as “Raging Bull.” “It’s a great cultural ambassador for the State of Israel.”
Among those on hand for Mehta’s announcement: gala principal benefactors Vidal and Ronnie Sassoon; gala vice chairs Mel and Joyce Eisenberg Keefer and Annette and Peter O’Malley; and Denise Maynard, programming director at K-Mozart 105.1. Following the Dec. 10 event, the IPO will round out December with performances in Costa Mesa, Newark, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Welcome Back, Kosofsky
Congregation Shaarei Tefila of Los Angeles has welcomed its new spiritual leader, Rabbi Nachum Kosofsky, and his wife, Elana. Kosofsky, an L.A. native, returned to his home town from Columbus, Ohio, where he served three years as assistant rabbi for the Beth Jacob Congregation with Rabbi David Stavsky. The Kosofskys return to Los Angeles with their five children, Racheli, 7, Naami, 6, Meira, 4, Shmuel, 2, and Yechiel, 6 months.
A Dream Come True
Leo Baeck Temple organist Shiri Lee Pitesky was honored for her first 50 years as the Temple’s organist by helping her realizing her dream — to play “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch at Dodger Stadium at the June 19 game.
A Verizon Horizon
Verizon Foundation contributed $50,000 to become the first corporate sponsor of KOREH L.A, a program of The Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC) that promotes childhood literacy. KOREH L.A. has more than 1,300 volunteers currently reading with students in more than 50 LAUSD elementary schools.
Dinner with Julia
America’s first lady of food, Julia Child, was the honorary chair and special guest at “Endangered Treasures: A Celebration of Cookbook Preservation,” a Four Seasons fundraiser that grossed $50,000 to preserve rare historic cookbooks.
Sponsored by the International Association of Culinary Professionals Foundation (IACPF), the event attracted 135 patrons in support of the project that food historians describe as “doing for old cookbooks what the American Film Institute does for classic films.”
Luminaries in attendance: cookbook author and Journal contributor Judy Zeidler, actress Faith Ford, TV personalities/event emcees Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken and keynote speaker Barbara Haber, author of “From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals.”
“This was a truly magical evening that was made even more special with an appearance by the legendary Julia Child,” remarked food writer Amelia Saltsman, the event’s co-chair.
Child urged guests to support the cause and “do it with flair!”
For information, visit www.iacpfoundation.org/events.html . — Staff Report
