Vera
Stern and
Dr. Ruth Westheimer. |
AMERICA-ISRAEL
CULTURAL FOUNDATION
For 40
Years Vera Stern
Nurtures
Exciting Talent
Story and Photos by Tim Boxer
 FTER
working for forty years with the America-Israel Cultural Foundation,
Vera Stern was in the spotlight at the 2002 gala concert at
New York’s Kaye Playhouse. Along with her former husband, Isaac
Stern, Vera guided an organization that supports Israeli artists
with financial aid to enable them to pursue their craft.
Violinists
Itzhak Perlman and Gil Shaham, past Israeli
scholarship recipients, were on hand for the tribute to Vera.
“I’m
a Vera Stern survivor,” Perlman quipped. “I have marks on my
neck and shoulder.”
Shaham
said that when he came to the U.S. he always found someone at the
AICF office ready to help.
Chen Reiss, soprano who
performed at the gala, and
husband Nikki Gomez.
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“AICF
organized my first tours in this country,” Shaham said. “They
even lent me a violin.”
Rabbi
Shira Stern revealed that her mother, so much involved in the
music world, does not even play an instrument. “She plays the
radio!”
Vera
presented the Aviv Award to former scholarship recipient Ohad
Naharin, artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company.
Dancers
of the Juilliard Dance Ensemble performed several of Naharin’s
works, including a daring interpretation of the Haggadah’s Ehad
Mi Yodea.
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