JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 49

“Over the pandemic, I did 
countless livestreams and, after 
a while, that got very old,
” 
Weilerstein said. “I also did 
several recording projects and 
created a very large commis-
sioned (work), which is going 
to be a multi-year project with 
thoughts about how we would 
come back together in the 
concert hall. 
“It’s very much live music 
and called ‘Fragments.
’ I 
commissioned 27 composers 
diverse in every way in terms 
of age, level of establishment, 
race, ethnicity and gender. 
They all wrote 10-minute long 
solo pieces for me. 
“I’ve created six programs 
and also engaged a director. 
The first two programs are 
going to be unveiled this sea-
son. Three and four will come 
out the following season, and 
the entire budget will come 
out the season after that.
”
Weilerstein is based in two 
homes — one in San Diego 
and the other in Montreal. She 
and husband, Rafael Payare, 
a conductor, work together 
on occasion as she considers 
themselves musically aligned. 

They have two daughters, ages 
6 and under a year, and the 
older child plays the violin. 
“I am encouraging my 
daughters in music and letting 
them find it independently,
” 
she said. “Music needs to be 
part of their lives, for sure, and 
part of their education, but 
what they do with it is entirely 
up to them. They need to fol-
low their hearts.
”
Diagnosed before she 
was 10 with type 1 diabetes, 
Weilerstein supports causes 
leading to a cure. 
“I started working with the 
Juvenile Diabetes Research 
Foundation a little while 
ago,
” she said. “We need to 
do everything we can to raise 
awareness of the potential dev-
astating complications of type 
1 diabetes and put efforts into 
finding a cure. 
“
At the same time, the mes-
sage is a very positive one. 
With the right attitude and 
vigilantly managing of one’s 
blood sugar, it is completely 
possible to live the life that you 
always wanted to live. Here I 
am approaching middle age, 
and I am healthy and had two 
very healthy pregnancies. My 
career is exactly where I want 
it to be.
” 
Weilerstein, who had a bat 
mitzvah and has performed in 
Jerusalem, feels culturally very 
Jewish. She finds being able 
to pass down the traditions to 
her daughters a fantastic expe-
rience. 

MARCO BORGGREVE

Cellist Alisa 
Weilerstein

Details

Alisa Weilerstein will per-
form at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 
Jan. 26, at Cobb Great Hall, 
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contact whartoncenter.com.

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