CONCERTS at the JC

Every Sunday night the Auditorium filled for classical concerts by top performing artists -- mostly Israeli. We helped to greet and to oversee student ushers.  Students like Joni & Janessa (6/12/11) took tickets and manned the Auditorium doors.

 We also enjoyed the attenders -- over 12,000 in 2011, almost all Jewish. Stew & Judy Telman always sat bottom left, and helped with hosting when the students were gone.

As guests arrived for concerts, they filled the long front street and the side street with parking on all sides -- one reason to come early.  Buses that often used our front spaces were asked not to park there on concert nights.

The Center itself was an attraction, spectacular both inside and out. Some who have lived here all their lives called it the most serene & impressive bldg.in Jerusalem. All concerts and tours were free of charge to the public. Performers received only a small JC stipend plus donations by attenders after each concert. Almost all attenders were local residents.

Guests approaching the JC for evening concerts enjoyed well-lighted grounds.

At the front gates were two patios with lighted fountains & gardens.

Inside the front doors was the security room. It surveyed and secured JC's entire outer perimeter by monitoring multiple TV screens.  They also helped arrange transportation for guests. 

With the winter rains, colorful umbrellas often decorated the inside front entry.

 

Once inside, guests were greeted at many places, including the front desk. Neomi Weinstein booked all performers for concerts & all exhibit displays. Shari Ohman was her right hand; Marilyn was her left one. 

Marilyn and Shari also prepared flowers for these events -- and for Church Sabbath meetings -- mostly gathered from onsite gardens. 

_________________________________________

 

 

 Some Favorite Conceerts.   To start the Fall Season (Sunday 10/2/10), a youth orchestra from Germany filled the stage. Mike opened the program with Albinoni's familiar Adagio. Then came Haydn's dazzling Cello Concerto and Beethoven's 8th Symphony.  All 350 seats were filled.

On 7/3/11, the Arab-Jewish Youth Orch. from all over Israel did ethnic music on ouds, drums, flutes, clarinet & violins. In the Arab crowd were some from our East Jerusalem charities. 

On 8/7/11 this amazing duo (Ron Regev piano, Cristina Reiko Cooper, cello) played superb short classics and the premier of her grandfather's composition. They both spoke as well as they played, in perfect English.  They were playing together for the 1st time -- ever!

On 10/30/11 the first Mormon musician to perform there so far was Nicole Biggs, from Texas. Her program was both dazzling and exhausting -- with two Piano Quartets (Mozart & Mendelssohn) and a long Liszt etude.   Artists loved to perform in the JC acoustical marvel -- before a smart, appreciative crowd and spectacular city lights.

On 6/22/11, the JC hosted a benefit reception & concert for SHEKEL, a Jewish charity. The Atar Trio (+ a singer) was terrific -- playing a fine variety, including French pieces and Argentine rhythms. I even bought their CD!  Adrienne Dodi and Marilyn were pleased with the evening. 

On 12/4/11 the Israeli Piano Quartet lived up to its name. (L-R): Revital Hachamoff (piano), Ira Givol (cello), Shuli Waterman & Gilad Hildesheim (violin) did an All-Beethoven program, including Symphony # 3.  (The Eroica helped get me through law school exams by, at once, calming & energizing me.)

 

__________________________________________________________

 

25th JC Anniversary. Celebrating the JC's 25th year in operation, on 1/8/12 Richard Elliott (Principal Mormon Tabernacle Organist) started the Winter Series with a dazzling concert.

The audience faced away from the organ. But both it & the organist reflected visibly in the front windows!  After a supert Bach Sinfonia then Passacaglia & Fugue, he played the Israel premiere of BYU Daniel Gawthrop's O Jerusalem: A Symphony for Organ. Before each movement, Mike narrated Isaiah verses 66:15, 12; 61:10; 60:1.  

He also played spectacular arrangements of Go, Tell It on the Mountain!, Marcel Dupre's Variations on a Noel & Gershwin's I Got Rhythm. We had never seen foot pedals (or hands) move so fast or so well. This concert got the only standing ovation during our 18 months at the JC.

Afterwards, we joined a stream of well-wishers in the lobby -- including Neomi's husband Gil Weinstein, a true judge of artistic excellence.

Mike Ohman arranged it -- but Eric Huntsman brought the Elliott family & me to the JC on 12/21/11, upon my return from Wilbert's funeral.

 

The next day, Rick gave an organ seminar to aspiring organists.   Perhaps that is what inspired Marilyn to give it a try on our last night there.

_____________________________________________________

 

 

 One Thursday each month, there was a jazz or ethnic concert. On 9/2/10, the group included a sweet sax, vibrant percussion, rhythmic bass and Brubeck-style pianist.

______________________________________
 

 

Our last concert on 2/26/12 was marvelous. A 32-voice young girls' choir (ages 14 to 26) from a town near Tel Aviv did "From Baroque to Our Time" (10 pieces + 3 encores). They were well trained, with an unusually mature sound.  In one Verdi number from La Traviata, they sang like conversational gypsies -- with no director. They were charming, but 3 girls almost passed out in the warm hall after a long day.

But for us, it was a fun and memorable night.