Category
pianist
Tragedy and Triumph Comes Alive for Teens
As 14-year-old Lisa Jura said goodbye to her mother at a Vienna train station in 1938, Jura’s mother spoke words that would inspire her for a lifetime: “Hold on to your music. It will be your best friend.”
Jura didn’t imagine that these words — and how her life came to embody them — would inspire subsequent generations of teenagers, even 70 years later.
Behind the Music: The Wedding Singer
In the 1998 hit comedy \”The Wedding Singer,\” the eponymous character was a nice Jewish boy named Robbie. At the Sept. 2 Century City Park Hyatt reception of 30-something newlyweds Daphna Ghozland and David Hollander, the wedding singer is a nice Jewish boy named Robbie. True, the latter — singer/pianist/bandleader Robbie Helperin — will occasionally perform the odd \’80s pop song with his Simcha Orchestra as Adam Sandler did in the movie, but that\’s where the parallels end, or at least, that\’s where Helperin would like them to end.\n\n\”It was kind of painful to watch,\” Helperin said of the movie that immortalized his profession as a \”Loserville\” populated by \”creepy musicians,\” in his words.
A Song in His Heart
Singer-pianist-archivist Michael Feinstein\’s new album, his first with a symphony orchestra, is all standards and all Jewish.
The Power of Music
\”The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival\” by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen (Warner Books $23.95).
Vienna, 1938. In the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, 14-year-old musical prodigy Lisa Jura looks forward to a promising career as a concert pianist. Hitler has other plans. With the breaking of glass on Kristallnacht, Jura\’s dreams are shattered.
Jazz With Jewish Roots
\”George Gershwin Alone,\” the only one-man show ever permitted by the heirs of the composer for the commercial stage, began in the shadow of the Holocaust.
Spectator
Attorney Gerry Schubert may be a relatively familiar face in Orange County; alongtime resident of Yorba Linda and a member at Mission Viejo\’s Congregation Eilat, Schubert is actively involved in Jewish Federation projects. But, soon, he may become better known for the release of his second musical CD, \”Life in the Moment\” (GalleryRecords).
The Arts
Actor-composer Hershey Felder, 29, has a way with politicians.
New Articles
Why Are Presidential Statements About Jews So Weak?
UCLA Hillel on Pro-Palestinian Encampment: Jewish Students “Feeling the Intensity of the Situation”
USC Cancels Main Commencement Ceremony
Chosen Links – Colleges and Passover Edition – April 25, 2024
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.