frontlines Young Musical Prodigy Lands A Record Deal Leslie Spector JN Intern M usical prodigy Henry Plotnick, 12, started play- ing piano when he was 4 years old. He fell in love with the instrument and realized music was his calling. "Even before I started playing piano I was obsessed with turntables and stereos:' said Plotnick of San Francisco, who has ties to Metro Detroit. Over the past year, he discovered musical composers, such as Phillip Glass and Brian Eno, who fabricate repetitive, orchestrated music. "Both of these artists make very repetitive music, but it grows and eventually adds on to itself' Plotnick explained. "It's really cool to listen to, and I am very inspired by their work" Plotnick's niche is electronic music, and 95 percent of the songs he writes and performs are improvisations. His debut album, Fields, consists of nine tracks and was released on July 9 of this year. After listening to the record, it's easy to assume this musi- cal accomplishment was written and performed by someone beyond Plotnick's years. The album was produced by Holy Mountain Records and was written solely by Plotnick when he was 11. Plotnick's whimsical creations in his first album are titled "Field 1", "Field 2" and so on. He did this strategically to illustrate a musical progression in the album, as well as to create an opportunity for listeners to generate their own meaning of his work. The virtuoso composer has had access to all kinds of musi- cal instruments as he grew up. He has played drums, trumpet and trombone. "There are a lot of instruments around our house because my wife is a musician so we have always encouraged him to play:' said Danny Plotnick, Henry's father, who grew up in JN CONTENTS August 15-21 2013 I 9-15 Elul 5773 Around Town 30 Arts/Entertainment ...49 Business 38 Calendar 26 Family Focus 42 Food 54 Get Cooking 34 Israel ..1, 5,12, 22, 27, 30, 40, 49 Jews in the Digital Age.. 22 Letters 5 Life Cycles 57 Marketplace 59 Henry Plotnick at the keyboard Detroit. "Early on, we recognized that he really had a natural intuitive, so we made music available to him:' Plotnick is the grandson of Mort Plotnick of West Bloomfield, former Jewish Community Center executive director, who still is fundraising for the JCC. His grandmoth- er, Evelyn Sahan, lives in West Bloomfield. "Henry has always been interested in the arts:' his grand- father said. "He's talented, a decent human being and a great performer. You can tell he really loves what he does:' Plotnick has performed in front of live audiences at many venues throughout the San Francisco area. He takes piano lessons once a week and practices homework his piano teacher assigns every other day. He practices his own elec- tronic music daily. Plotnick has about eight hours of his own material thus far. "There are a lot of things I used to want to be when I got older, like a mad scientist:' Plotnick said. "But music is what I was made for. This is what I want to do. I think I have a lot to offer in the weird music world and to people who like this type of music. I am looking forward to making another album soon:' ❑ theJEWISHNEWS Vol. CXLIV, No. 2 Metro 8 Next Generation 36 Obituaries 66 Points Of View 40 44 Spirituality Sports 48 Staff Box/Phone List ...6 Synagogue List 46 Torah Portion 47 Columnist Danny Raskin Click. Call. 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Nita Cohen is in commercial lending, and a few years ago she was unemployed for a short time when her bank downsized its staff. "I was looking for ways to keep busy while I did my job search," Nita said, "which I mentioned to a friend at Federation. She suggested I check out Hebrew Free Loan as a fit for my experience and my interests." While the agency doesn't have day-to-day volunteers because of the confidential nature of the work, agency leaders were identifying dynamic members of the community to fill Board vacancies. A short while later, Nita was invited to join. "This is my first Board experience," said Nita, "and it's been rewarding to take off my commercial banker hat and use one-to-one people skills. Coming here as a borrower can be a scary thing, but I think people should know we are in this together. We think of ourselves as a community, not adversaries. 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