About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
We are so blessed on both my Dad's side of the family as well as my mother's side to have been raised with MUSIC all around us and throughout our lives. This page will hopefully tell some of the stories of other family members on both sides of the family ( in their own words - or at least that's the plan ) . Mine will have to do for now. I apologize for any inaccuracies and I will correct them as quickly as I learn of them.
We have everything from fait-accomplis professional musicians such as my cousin Zina Schiff, in Boston, who learned her violin as a protegee of Jasha Heifetz in California and with the help of her family in California. Her oldest sister, Eileen, was her first violin teacher and her father an orchestra conductor, I believe.
Eileen was married to Hal Wingard, a well-known and celebrated California educator in foreign language programs and also a delightful guitarist in his own right who was as much known for his many witty music compositions as for his entertaining audiences and family with them. He died at 83 years of age, in 2009.
Eileen has taught their daughter Myla to play violin as well, and following her mother's lead, Myla also married a guitar player, Lou Rosen.
Zina also schooled her daughter in violin, but Avlana Eisenberg chose to become an orchestra conductor. Music reigns supreme throughout that entire special branch of the family.
My spouse Elizabeth and myself visited Eileen, Myla and Lou in San Diego and had an incredible evening that after dinner included playing music at the home of Myla (violinist) and Lou Rosen (guitarist and guitar aficianado ) . You will find the family's formidable musical accomplishments all over the internet.
We also have budding young musicians to-be, such as in my niece Sari's family, and we have the music hackers and hobbyists like myself, my nephew Jason (drummer) , my sons Darren (sax) and Corey in Florida (guitar), and my 2 year old grandson, Micah (who has started learning ukelele, guitar & keyboards).
As this page develops I am hoping it will tell a lot more stories.
Looking forward to this becoming a very interesting section of the site.
Please continue below...scroll down
Our Stories
Meet The Extended Musical Family...
much more to come...
Mother Zina and Daughter Avlana
The mother-and-daughter partnership of Zina Schiff and Avlana Eisenberg shows an evident unity of purpose in both concertos. In the Sibelius, Schiff emphasises the songful aspects; instead of concentrating on bravura in the passagework, she allows the music plenty of time to breathe, searching for expressive detail in each phrase. The Hungary-based MAV orchestra tones down the fiercer aspects of Sibelius’s score, creating a sombre impression but without the disturbing edge we sometimes notice.
Excerpt from a review :
Zina Schiff & Jasha Heifetz
California-born violinist Zina Schiff was a student of violin master Jascha Heifetz's before continuing her studies with Ivan Galamian at The Curtis Institute of Music. She earned her undergraduate and master degrees from University of California at Berkeley and Louisiana State University, and later completed a Master of Jewish Studies degree from Spertus Institute. Schiff was guest speaker at the 2014 convention of the American String Teachers Association, in which her talk, “The Ten Commandments of Jascha Heifetz,” appeared in the August issue of String Magazine.
Schiff gave the New York premiere of Richard Nanes’ Rhapsodie at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and has subsequently performed it internationally, including at the Budapest Spring Festival. Her many recordings include the Sibelius and Barber Violin Concertos and the world premiere of Paul Ben-Haim’s Three Songs Without Words with the MAV Concert Orchestra of Budapest, conducted by her daughter, Avlana Eisenberg. Schiff has appeared with major orchestras throughout the world.
Just one of her several albums
Much much more to come...
Hal Wingard : ( Wife : Eileen Wingard )
Several hundred of his composed songs, played wonderfully with his guitar accompaniment.
https://sandiegojewishworld.com/san-diego-jewish-authors/jewish-authors-wingard-hal.htm
And on it goes . . .
"into the night..".. ( Santana )
TO BE DEVELOPED ....
Eileen Wingard
Eileen Wingard, oldest sister of Zina Schiff and Zina's first violin teacher, is a retired violinist who was with the San Diego Symphony, and is also a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.