JEWISH abo BUSINESS EXCHANGE DETROIT & Holiday I THE JEWISH NEWS are honored to present The Israel Philharmonic Celebrates 60th Anniversary Eleanor M. Josaitis Co-founder and Executive Director, Focus: HOPE "Building a 21st Century Workforce" and Lloyd Reus Executive Dean, Center for Advanced Technologies Retired President, General Motors Monday, September 29, 1997 Focus: HOPE • 1 400 Oakman • Detroit uided Tours: 6 p.m. • Program: 7 p.m. Strictly kosher refreshments • $25/$15 JBE Members R.S.V.P. & More Information: Jewish Business Exchange (810) 932-5797 vivo 110 SITIVI presented by 313.965.2222 Shows: WEDNESDAY thru SUNDAY LIVE COMEDY THEATRE • NEXT TO THE FOX THEATRE DON'T LET HOUSEHOLD PESTS HOLD YOU HOSTAGE! CALL THE ERADICO PROFESSIONALS! Eradico's safe and proven methods keep your home free of insects, rodents and other pests. 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Such was the atmos- phere, that soloists even showed up at concerts at which they were not playing. Zubin Mehta, the IPO's devoted lifetime appointed conductor, emphasized that the IPO and the soloists are like his close family. But, he continued, "no one has been closer to the orchestra than the violinist Isaac Stern." Stern came to the fledgling state 47 years ago to play his first concert with the Israel Philharmonic. "Two important things happened that year," Stern reminisced. The first, of course, was the establish- ment of the State of Israel. The second, he said, was the feeling of pride to be a Jew, a person among persons, a state among states. There was a feeling of "belonging- ness" in the air, said Stern, recalling one of his early concert trips to Israel. "When I got into a cab one afternoon and asked to be taken to some place other than the concert hall. The cab driver looked at his watch and turned to me, 'Don't forget you have a concert tonight, Mr. Stern.' People care, and that is one of the beauties of Israel." The audience has remained loyal and supportive throughout the years. Stern remembers when the orchestra performed in the small and tattered "Ohel Shem" Hall that seated 920 peo- ple. "It did not matter," said Stern. "The hall was filled and half the people in the auditorium were in army uni- form. Everyone listened from their pores. Today the orchestra's home is in Tel Aviv at the magnificent Mann Auditorium, whose principal benefac- tor was American Fredric R. Mann, but the audience is as knowledgeable and enthusiastic as ever. In truth, the history of the Israel 1 \ Philharmonic documents the history of the State of Israel Itself. The orchestra was formed in 1936 by the great violin ist Bronislaw Huberman who persuad- ed 75 musicians from Europe to go and live in Palestine and play on the "sand dunes of Tel Aviv." The great maestro Arturo Toscanini took leave o the NBC Symphony and conducted the IPO's first concert. "This is for humanity," he said. Throughout the decade:, the orchestra grew in prestige and in 1971, the IPO began participating in major European music festivals. Though there were heated discussions as whether or not to per- form in Berlin, the deci- sion was made to play, _ and Zubin Mehta led the orchestra in an enthusias- tically received performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1. When the cheers of "Encore, Encore" rang out, Mehta turned to the orchestra and declared "Hatikva." Thus our national anthem was played a few hundred meters from Reichstag, where the annihilation of European Jewry was planned. With concerts planned and soloists booked until the year 2,000, the Israel Philharmonic looks forward to many more gala anniversary celebrations of music and friendship. A source of prides to all Israelis, the IPO is much more than just another world-famous orches- tra. It is something unique in musical and Jewish history. \)\ The IPO is booked three years ahead. Sarah Hershenson writes for World Zionist Press Service. Grapes Grow In Salt Water Researchers at Ben-Gurion University ‘_\ of the Negev, the Hebrew University and a Turkish researcher from Izmir have succeeded in producing a success- ful first crop of seedless, purple-red grapes, grown with salty groundwater in the Negev. The success was reported at the international conference on Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Development of Desert Agriculture. At the four-day event, attended by experts from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and the Palestinian Authority, Professor Ben-Asher, of BGU's Desert Research Institute, reported on the first..1:\ harvest produced from his vines. — WZPS