By Eileen Wingard     List of honorees         Louis Rose Society         Jewishsightseeing home       San Diego Jewish Times

Yale Strom Comes Home

By Eileen Wingard
San Diego Jewish Times, January 27, 2006

Yale Strom, San Diego State University’s multi-talented alumnus, came home for an all-Strom concert at Smith Recital Hall on the SDSU campus. The Dec. 8 program featured Strom’s original works. The event was under auspices of SDSU’s Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies and the Los Angeles-headquartered Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity.

The evening opened with the premiere of Di Fusgeyers for violin, cello, two guitars and string bass. Di Fusgeyers was inspired by Stuart Tower’s historical novel The Wayfarers. This is a saga about the 1890-1914 trek of thousands of young Romanian Jews across Europe to Atlantic seaports seeking passage to America to escape the anti-Semitism of their homeland. Author Tower introduced Di Fusgeyers and told of plans to make a documentary film based on his novel using Strom’s music for the score.

In this three-movement work utilizing klezmer themes, violinist Strom collaborated with four of San Diego’s most talented instrumentalists. Ron Robboy, cello, is a veteran member of the San Diego Symphony and was a leader in the klezmer revival with his Big Jewish Orchestra and Big Jewish Band. Fred Benedetti, guitar, serves on the faculty of Grossmont College. George Svoboda, guitar, is a member of the Second Avenue Klezmer Ensemble. Jeff Pekarek is one of San Diego’s most versatile string bass virtuosos. The ensemble played beautifully. Strom was a strong leader and Robboy performed with warmth and precision. The guitarists provided careful support for the melody lines and excelled in their own solos, while Pekarek demonstrated his strong improvisational skills. Listeners might have had a clearer understanding of the composition’s structure had the three movements been listed in the printed program.

The second half of the program featured Strom’s original Yiddish songs in charming interpretations by his vocalist wife, Elizabeth Schwartz. These works are remarkable for their subject matter, their idiomatic melodies and their Yiddish lyrics. "L’Chayim, Comrade Stalin!" is about Birobidzhan, the Communist Jewish homeland in Siberia. "Stained Red" recalls childhood and love in the Warsaw Ghetto under the shadow of the approaching Holocaust. "Imanu Malketseynu" is a psalm to Mother Earth in counterpoint to Avinu Malkeynu. Other highlights included a Ladino gem with guitar accompaniment and an authentic rendition of the Yiddish song "Rumania" sung with fervor by Schwartz, whose parents were from there.

Strom and ensemble concluded the evening in a spirited rendition of "Kolom ayke," an Eastern European dance whose infectious beat had the entire audience clapping.

Strom, gathering material from his visits to Jewish communities throughout Eastern Europe, has distinguished himself as an outstanding author, playwright, and filmmaker as well as composer, lyricist and performer. Throughout his creative endeavors, he has had the loyal support of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity. During the Center’s 15 years of existence under the leadership of John and Ruth Rauch, it has inspired a renaissance of creativity among Jewish artists such as Strom.

In opening remarks, Rabbi Aaron Kopikis, vice president of the Center spoke eloquently about Strom and the Center’s mission. Kopikis was departing the next day for Mexico City, where he hoped to spearhead establishment of a branch of the Center south of the border.

          Professor Lawrence Baron, Director of the Lipinsky Institute, greeted the audience and expressed pride in the Institute’s achievements and in the artist of the evening, Yale Strom, the first to graduate from San Diego State University with a minor in Judaic Studies.