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LOS ANGELES JEWISH SYMPHONY

Violin I

Mark Kashper, Concertmaster

Carolyn Osborn, Assistant Concertmaster

Niv Ashkenazi

Kirstin Fife

Liliana Filipovic

Jonathan Rubin*

Olena Kaspersky*

Laura Bedol*

Payman Eliahoo*

Violin II

Aroussiak Baltaian, Principal

Johana Krejci

Sandra Zaninovich*

Sarah Wallin-Huff*

Jenni Asher*

Ami B. Levy

Raina Markham*

Joshua Kave*

Viola

Michael Larco, Principal

Karolina Naziemiec

Beth Elliott

Marcy Vaj

Chad Prado*

Doris Xiao*

Cello

Barry Gold, Principal

Garik Terzian

Kevan Torfeh

Carlyn Kessler

Tom Lloyd*

Sarah Kave*

Peter Penrod*

Bass

Adrian Rosen, Principal

Richard Simon

Lucas Helfman*

Flute

Martin Glicklich, Principal

Cynthia Koepcke*

Oboe/English Horn

Maya Barrera, Principal

Noah Isaac Breneman*

Clarinet

Zinovy Goro, Principal

Ron Rothman*

Zachary Lodmer*

Bass Clarinet

Zachary Lodmer, Principal*

Bassoon

Leslie Lashinsky, Principal

Carmit Mirenberg*

Contrabassoon

Leah Kohn, Principal*

French Horn

John Mason, Principal

Preston Shepard

Laura Weiss

Avery Jett*

Trumpet

Avi Bialo, Principal

Elliot Deutsch

Jerry Cohen*

Trombone

Lori Stuntz, Principal

Ronald Minor

Bass Trombone

Fuchou Chiang, Principal*

Tuba

Diego Stein*

Tympani

Paul Sternhagen, Principal

Percussion

Marvin B. Gordy, III, Principal

Lorry Black

Harp

Marcia Dickstein, Principal

Celeste

Wendy Prober-Cohen, Principal

Personnel Manager

Johana Krejci

Librarian

Johana Krejci

*Thank you to our community members

BIOS:

DR. NOREEN GREEN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR

Dr. Noreen Green is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony (LAJS), which she founded in 1994. Known worldwide for her knowledge and skill in presenting music with Jewish themes, she has served as guest conductor in the United States, Israel, South Africa, Australia and Canada. In 2017, she was honored by Musical America, the oldest and most prestigious American magazine on classical music, as one of its Movers & Shapers, the Top 30 Musical America Professionals of the Year.

Under Dr. Green’s direction, the LAJS has performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Ford Theatres, the Soraya (formerly the Valley Performing Arts Center at CSUN), Royce Hall at UCLA, the Gindi Auditorium at American Jewish University and other venues. Special guest performers have included such personalities as Tovah Feldshuh, Randy Newman, Theodore Bikel, Marvin Hamlisch, Dave Koz, Hershey Felder and many others. The LAJS and its Teaching Artists annually serve over 1200 elementary students with an innovative outreach education program, A Patchwork of Cultures: Exploring the Sephardic-Latino Connection.

Dr. Green also conducts the AJU Choir, which she founded in 2014, and was Adjunct Professor of Music at Pierce College from 2016 to 2018, where she conducted the Encore Singers.

In May 2018, Dr. Green was honored to conduct the World Premiere of Emily Bear’s “And Forever Free,” with the composer at the piano, in Rockford, Illinois. The occasion was Bear’s induction into the Order of Lincoln, Illinois’ highest honor for professional achievement and public service; the 16-year-old Bear is the youngest recipient in the history of the prize. Other recent guest conducting engagements include the “Pesach Extravaganza” at Temple B’nai Torah, in Boca Raton, Florida.

Dr. Green has received numerous awards and recognition, including the National Foundation of Jewish Culture, the State of Israel Bonds, and California Legislature Assembly Member Bob Blumenfield for creating the Interfaith Tribute Choir and Orchestra Concert for Remembering 9/11.  In 2012, Zev Yaroslavsky and the LA County Board of Supervisors honored her with a Commendation for her contribution to the Los Angeles arts scene.

In great demand as a lecturer and educator, Dr. Green has spoken at numerous national and international symposia and for the LA Philharmonic’s Upbeat Live series.   In 2017, Dr. Green gave a highly acclaimed lecture-concert, A Celebration of Women and Music through a Jewish Lens, in Sydney, Australia. She also spoke at the National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association on the subject of Jewish choral music from the Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions. The previous year, Dr. Green presented a workshop on Jewish music at the American Choral Directors Association Western Division Conference and delivered a talk on Jewish composers in film at the Magnes Collection for Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley, CA. In 2015, she gave the keynote speech at the annual Spring Conference of the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism in Irvine, CA.

 In June 2020, Dr. Green will return to Australia as a guest conductor for the Australian Jewish Choral Festival, sharing vocal music in a cultural exchange that will explore links between Jewish and Aboriginal histories.

Dr. Green and the LAJS have released two CDs on the prestigious Albany Records label: in 2017, the oratorio Women of Valor by contemporary Philadelphia composer Andrea Clearfield and in 2019, The Music of Eric Zeisl featuring his ballet “Jacob and Rachel” and “Variations on a Slovakian Theme.” Learn more at www.lajs.org. 

LINDSAY DEUTSCH

With her limitless enthusiasm and vast gifts as a performer and entertainer, American violinist, Lindsay Deutsch, is a charismatic and captivating presence on today’s music scene. She has thrilled audiences world-wide with her passion for music and brilliant display of technique and musicianship.

Lindsay Deutsch is a much sought-after soloist and entertainer and is presently touring as solo violinist with Yanni – having toured with him in Saudi Arabia, U.S., and future tours in China and Korea.

Maestro Jung-Ho Pak, conductor and artistic director of the Cape Symphony Orchestra, says of Lindsay, “A conductor dreams about finding a soloist who understands the essential responsibility of helping change a large community’s view of classical music. In a time when every concert has to be unforgettable and a game changer, Lindsay can make that happen every time.”

Ms. Deutsch’s Project: CLASSIFIED is gaining significant attention with classical music presenters as well as with local clubs, theatres, and pop music series. Project: CLASSIFIED targets the most recent generations of Americans who have not grown up with an appreciation for, or knowledge of classical music. With a mixture of classical and crossover, dressed down and performed in a familiar setting – such as a bar, restaurant, club, or outdoor venue.

Lindsay Deutsch is paving the way for today’s artists to reach a whole new generation of audience members. This “one woman show” has reinvented the traditional classical violin recital by playing the great classical repertoire alongside her own unique arrangements of pop, jazz, folk, and rock. Lindsay’s down-to-earth and humorous conversation, in addition to her amazing violinistic abilities, bridge the classical and popular aspects of music, resulting in an astounding performance of virtuosity, groove, elegance, and energy.

Deutsch frequently appears as guest soloist with American and Canadian symphonies. Recent orchestral engagements include the Colorado, Fort Worth, Missoula, New West, Las Cruces, Pensacola, Irving, Cape, Knoxville, South Carolina, West Virginia Symphonies as well as the Los Angeles, McGill, Portland and Boulder Chamber Orchestras. Ms. Deutsch’s performance of Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Kahane, was selected for NPR’s Symphony Cast Program. Her movie credits include playing the solo violin soundtrack for the movie, “The Good Shepherd” starring Robert De Niro.

Ms. Deutsch feels strongly that the young people of today need to have opportunities to be exposed to the world of classical music. In 2007, Lindsay and her sister, Lauren, co-founded a non-profit organization, the Classics Alive Foundation, www.classicsalive.org, dedicated to building classical music audiences. The Youth Orchestra Residency Program, now in its 4th year, has grown into a popular nationwide program for youth orchestras in which Ms. Deutsch is actively involved.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Deutsch has collaborated with such musicians as Gil Shaham, Jeffrey Kahane, Cho-Liang Lin, Arnold Steinhardt, Chee-Yun, Alisa Weilerstein, Gary Hoffman, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Ms. Deutsch received her education from the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, where she studied under Robert Lipsett. Lindsay Deutsch plays on an 1845 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.

BARRY GOLD

Los Angeles native Barry Gold has been Principal Cellist and soloist with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony since 1997. A Young Musicians Foundation scholarship recipient, Mr. Gold began his performing career as a member of the YMF Debut Orchestra of Los Angeles; while still a teenager, he was a member of a piano trio that won a prestigious Coleman Chamber Music Prize. He earned both his BA and MM degrees from the Juilliard School of Music, where he was awarded the Eduard Steuermann Memorial Prize. In addition to cello studies with Harvey Shapiro, he studied chamber music with Felix Galimir and members of the Juilliard String Quartet.

Mr. Gold has been a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1982. He has appeared as soloist with the Philharmonic, is a frequent performer at Philharmonic Chamber Music Society concerts and has participated in a number of World Premieres on Philharmonic New Music Group programs. He has participated in the Tanglewood and Victoria (BC) summer festivals, was a member of the Pasadena and Long Beach Symphonies and has taught cello at USC and UCLA. Mr. Gold is featured on the New Music Group’s recording of John Harbison’s The Natural World. 

ZINOVY GORO

Zinovy Goro is one of the leading klezmer clarinetists on the West Coast and a founding member of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. A native of Kiev, Mr. Goro earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Performance and Composition at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in that city, and furthered his training in the US at the Trebas Institute of Recording Arts in Los Angeles.

Prior to his coming to the US in 1979, Mr. Goro had a prestigious career as Principal Clarinetist of the State Honored Symphony Orchestra of Radio and Television in Kiev for 10 years and Assistant Principal Clarinetist of the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Kiev from 1963-1965. During that time, he was also Music Director of the Ukrainian Union's Jazz Orchestra.

Mr. Goro composed award-winning scores for eight Russian documentary films and published a collection of works for clarinet ensemble. He also taught for many years at the Special Music School for Gifted Children in Kiev.

In the United States, as composer, arranger, orchestrator and clarinetist, Mr. Goro has worked on countless film and television soundtracks, played on numerous recordings and with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is the Founding Director of the Golden State Klezmers, which has given hundreds of concerts and recorded three albums. Since March 1994 he has been busy as the Principal Clarinetist and frequent klezmer soloist with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, which gave the World Premiere of his Tribute to Mickey Katz at the Ford Theatres.

LEO CHELYAPOV

Clarinetist /Saxophonist Leo Chelyapov is versatile classical/world and jazz musician graduated from the Moscow College of Musical Arts and emigrated to Hollywood in 1992. Since that time he has taken America by storm with his infusion of pure, traditional Jewish folk music into the fabric of American popular culture. Leo performed on the soundtrack for the Howard Stern film Private Parts, and played clarinet for the Passover comedy When Do We Eat? by Salvador Litvak (2006). He has performed with popular rock bands Porno for Pyros and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has been featured on Late Night with David Letterman, MTV, and at Madison Square Garden.

Leo Chelyapov is an accomplished composer and arranger. He was commissioned to arrange Klezmer Dances for the world-famous Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, recorded on Sony Classical. He also recorded two CDs with Hollywood Klezmer.  Leo's other performances include concerts at the University of Judaism with jazz luminaries Buddy Collette, Abe Most, Herb Jeffries and Bobby Rodriguez; the Playboy Jazz Festival (2002); a Clarinet Concerto with Los Angeles Jewish Symphony by David Stern (2004); and a performance with Neil Sedaka at the Wilshire Theater. In 2005, Leo was faculty of Contemporary Jewish Classical Music for clarinet and bass-clarinet at the International Summer Music Academy in Michelstadt (ISAM).  In 2013, Leo played woodwinds for the run of "When you are in Love, the Whole World is Jewish" directed by Jason Alexander. Last few years, Leo was freelancing with several classical and world/jazz music ensembles and organizations including Classical Underground, The Krysalis Ensemble, Valadez Ensemble at Disneyland California Adventure Park, 8th Day Band, The Orphics, and recording for film music and teaching privately out of his studio in West LA.

Currently, Leo Chelyapov teaches at Ohr Eliahu Academy in West Hollywood, also gives private lessons, and works with Sonic Symphony as woodwind specialist arranger.

RICHÁRD BERNARD

Multi-instrumentalist/singer Richárd Bernard leads Klezmer-fusion band The OY!Stars, mixing traditional Eastern European music with Rock, Cowboy, Celtic sounds and a passion for keeping Yiddish folk songs alive while building bridges between marginalized communities. He has arranged and performed folkloric music for many films and TV shows; and is frequently seen acting in whimsical commercials playing instruments from his international collection including Contrabass Balalaika, Bouzouki, Sitar, Concertina and more.

Having spent his early childhood in Brooklyn, Richárd was raised in rural Georgia, graduated from University of Georgia and was a founding actor of Atlanta’s first dedicated multi-racial theatre. Since coming West, Richárd has performed as a guest with Los Angeles Philharmonic and as soloist with Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Armenian Pops Orchestra.

RICHARD SIMON

Richard Simon (bass) was first a student of violin. His grandfather had narrowly escaped the Holocaust and brought with him to the States a violin from Vienna. Richard would play it in his hometown (Kansas City) Youth Symphony, but thereafter he set aside music to study literature.

Years later, having earned an MA and a college English instructor position, his interest in music was rekindled by hearing a recording of jazz violin by the French virtuoso, Stephane Grapelli. Now 30, he was intrigued by this new jazz 'language': he picked up the bass and studied with classicist Abe Luboff and jazz legend Red Callender, and was soon being mentored on-stage by the 'elder elite' of the West Coast scene - saxophonists Buddy Collette and Teddy Edwards; pianists Gerald Wiggins and Liew Matthews; and singers Keely Smith and Ernie Andrews.

He has toured Eastern Europe, Japan and Thailand, and has recorded with clarinetist Ken Peplowski, saxophonist Houston Person and vocalist Sue Raney. Along the way, he has performed alongside some formidable Klezmer musicians including Zinovy Goro, Isaac Sadigursky and Miamon Miller.

He appears on jazz cruises and jazz festivals worldwide, produces recordings on his own UFO-Bass Records label, and directs a nonprofit youth jazz organization called JazzAmerica. (www.jazzamerica.org). Learn more at https://richardsimon.com. 

ISAAC SCHANKLER

Isaac Schankler is a composer and accordionist living in Los Angeles. Over the past several years, Schankler has been an active advocate for the accordion as a concert instrument, while drawing on its indelible folk roots in Klezmer, Yiddish theater, and Balkan music.

They have been a featured performer with opera company The Industry's productions of Hopscotch and Galileo, a guest performer with the band Devotchka at the Hollywood Bowl's Willy Wonka live-score-to-film concert event, and understudy accordionist for the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Indecent's run at the Ahmanson Theater. They are Assistant Professor of Music at Cal Poly Pomona, where they teach composition and music technology. Learn more at https://isaacschankler.com/. 

MARK KASHPER

Mark Kashper is the Founding Concertmaster and featured soloist of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. A violinist since the age of five, Mr. Kashper graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire and the Leningrad Conservatoire. As an Assistant Concertmaster and soloist with the Moscow Conservatoire Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Kashper performed extensively throughout the Soviet Union, Europe and Latin America.

Three months after moving to the United States in February 1978, Mr. Kashper joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In September 1979, he was promoted to the first violin section, progressed steadily through its ranks and was named the Orchestra’s Associate Principal Second Violinist in May 1986, a position he holds today.

Mr. Kashper has also appeared as a soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ojai Festival, as well as in many New Music Group and Chamber Music Series programs, collaborating with such distinguished musicians as Heinz Holliger, André Previn, Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman. In September 2011, Mr. Kashper was chosen to participate in the concerts of the Super World Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel. That ensemble was made up of principal players from many of the world’s greatest orchestras.

LOS ANGELES JEWISH SYMPHONY

Richard Merkin, M.D.

Founder

BOARD OFFICERS

David Gill

Chair

S. Ian Drew, M.D.

President

Arline Chambers

V.P. Communications

Janet Schulman

V.P. Development

Fawn Dao

Treasurer

Sandy Berman

Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Honey Kessler Amado

Sylvia Bernstein-Tregub

Robert Carroll, M.D.

Sandy Carroll

Bernard Franklin, M.D.

Jean Friedman

Elaine Gill

Noralee Gold

Howard Hartman

Arik Kashper

Mara Kashper

Jack Mayor

Paula Meichtry

Wendy Prober-Cohen

Lenore Rukasin

Guy Saperstein

Jeanine Saperstein

Randol Schoenberg, Esq.

Leslie Steinmetz

Cynthia Tivers

Ari Zev

BOARD OF ADVISORS

Alexander Bernstein

Rabbi Mark Blazer

Neal Brostoff

Cantor Herschel Fox

Jerry Friedman

Andrew Kluger

Cantor Nathan Lam

Bertha Merikanskas

Joy Picus

Ruth Rauch

Maestro Lucas Richman

Maestro Murry Sidlin

Bonnie Somers

Diane White-Clayton, PhD

LAJS STAFF

Audrey Yoder, Managing Director and Education Program Coordinator

Joemy Wilson, Development Director

Reid Carter, Administrator

Rhian Bristol, Administrative Assistant

Levy Barlevy, LA County Intern

Patrick Safley, I.T. Consultant

LAJS PRODUCTION TEAM

Umberto Belfiore, Videography

Philip Pritchard, Livestream Coordinator

Alexander Gitman, Photography

ABOUT LOS ANGELES JEWISH SYMPHONY

Mission

The mission of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony is to perform orchestral works of well-known as well as not widely recognized Jewish composers; establish opportunities for the presentation of new compositions by Jewish artists; serve as a professional resource for aspiring Jewish and non-Jewish musicians; act as an educational medium for Jewish music and composers; and provide educational opportunities for diverse populations of school-age children.

Since 1994, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony has been dedicated to the performance of orchestral works of distinction that explore Jewish culture, heritage and experience. As part of its mission, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony is committed to building bridges of music and understanding within the diverse multi-ethnic communities of our great city.

History

Since its debut performance, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, under the baton of Artistic Director Noreen Green, has won local, national and international acclaim for its inspired programming featuring commissioned new works and many world premieres. Its performances at numerous prestigious venues locally and overseas have played to the ovations of standing-room-only audiences.

In addition to its yearly concerts, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony develops and conducts education outreach programming for over 1,200 schoolchildren each season. The Symphony’s commitment to our future generations reflects its belief in the life-affirming value and importance of music appreciation.

The Los Angeles Jewish Symphony fills a cultural niche that revitalizes the legacy of Jewish music and spans the broad range of Jewish heritage from the nadir of adversity to the triumph of accomplishment. In the words of the Los Angeles Times, “the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony seems committed to the axiom that diversity is a terrible thing to waste.”

For more information:

818.646.2844 or [email protected]

www.lajs.org

This organization is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.