Fiddler On The Hoof

laying the violin has become a soli-
tary pursuit for Faina Fuchs.
In the early evening, she plays
softly in her Oak Park apartment.
During the day, she plays in se-
cluded space at the Jimmy Pren-
tis Morris Building in Oak Park.
Her Austrian-made instrument,
its patina worn thin from continual
use, is packed in a time-marked case
for its journey from her new living quarters
to her new social center and then back again.
Jimmy Prentis Morris JCC staff mem-
bers help Ms. Fuchs find a distant room to
allay her concern that sounds from her in-
strument might interfere with other pro-
grams.
Although she considers these hours prac-
tice times, people passing by her door have
been known to stop and listen. The melodies
— often Eastern European, frequently plain-
tive and always polished — are beautifully
compelling.
Ms. Fuchs, 57, is used to working in
crowded concert halls. Until this past De-
cember, when she moved to the United
States from the Ukraine, she appeared with
symphony, opera and chamber orchestras.
Although she knew opportunities for find-
ing similar work would be slim in her new
country, there were other priorities — a 19-
year-old daughter hoping to begin a career
as a pianist and an 81-year-old mother who
might see again with the help of a skilled
and compassionate surgeon.
"My life, from morning to night, was mu-
sic," Ms. Fuchs said through interpreter Riv-
ka Latinskaya, director of the Russian
Acculturation Program at the
JPM JCC. '1 don't know about
America's musical life."
Ms. Fuchs wanted to be a
violinist from early childhood,
and her stepfather bought her
first instrument when she was
10. There were private lessons
and evening classes at a mu-
sic school after her regular
high-school studies.
The violinist lived in
Kirghizstan for a while, fol-
lowing a favorite music
teacher and going on to music
college. Courses also prepared
her to be a teacher.
With an invitation to per-
form with a philharmonic or-
chestra in Siberia, Ms. Fuchs
again relocated for a while.
"I think giving music
lessons would be best for me
here," said Ms. Fuchs, who was
divorced a year after her daugh-
ter was born. "There are so many
good musicians, and I think my experience
could help make their lives easier."
Before any of that can happen, she must
learn English. Language classes at the Jew-

When Faina
Fuchs plays her
violin, visitors at
the Jewish
Community
Center in Oak
Park can't help
but drop in.

PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT

SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

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ish Community Center move her from a back
room to an up-front area, where fellow immi-
grants share priority studies.
Ms. Latinskaya, one of the people who stops
to listen to Ms. Fuchs practicing, is arranging
for the violinist to play with a group of profes-
sional immigrant musicians.
Ms. Fuchs also would like to find an ac-

companist to practice with her while she en-
joys her year of free membership at the JPM.
"I feel I am a lucky person," said Ms. Fuchs,
who also spends time with cousins who moved
to the United States ahead of her. "Since I've
been going to synagogues in the United
States, I know I have never felt such an atti-
tude of kindness." ❑

Violinist
Faina
Fuchs.

CC

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