Ezra Donner

Happy Hanukkah!

December 24, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

Tonight marks the beginning of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights! First year lighting the menorah in the Windy City.

15676132_10107579383905713_4310928046366344128_o

15676035_10107579384863793_4155952954775712382_o

15626260_10107579385542433_6818694702729171345_o

“Terracotta Warriors” at The Field Museum

December 21, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

Super cool!

Visit to Museum of the City of Chicago

December 20, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

First visit to this museum in Chicago. Fascinating stuff!

“The Sorcerer” with University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society

December 11, 2016December 26, 2016Leave a comment

What a joy to see “The Sorcerer” with the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan! Congrats to the cast and crew, and especially Artistic Director Lori Gould and Music Director Stefano Flavoni!

15391420_1359230634090176_7981112427833579360_o

15325407_1359228790757027_4109452619945232967_o

15419755_1359227834090456_6723736784316512454_o

photos by Marilyn Gouin.

Train Day Buffalo History Museum

November 25, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

All aboard! With Mom and Hannah at the Buffalo History Museum.

15259655_10107412191864903_5164187745178584584_o

15259637_10107412196854903_3173768100078433528_o

15259325_10107412196136343_2891028771195809075_o

15137615_10107412195352913_5240466082295644458_o

15252649_10107412194789043_3954830095037308364_o

15259332_10107412194250123_3433116347401751407_o

15137688_10107412193746133_8723025757105412260_o

15194520_10107412193067493_2082395380203125942_o

15194554_10107412192503623_759522766165971484_o

15235350_10107411289632983_6321872220727314937_o

15110937_10107411289273703_5466061135199119934_o

15168758_10107411288445363_5790351578337508052_o

15167720_10107411285745773_8554812768222775421_o

15128839_10107411285521223_1191993861859201386_o

15167460_10107411285306653_278027621400329207_o

15137616_10107411284942383_1372138148599668152_o

15156961_10107411284308653_1807340155470562858_o

15168749_10107411283530213_6497753543328472074_o

15137397_10107411283285703_8089813711820135144_o

15138388_10107411282826623_8636805796589771188_o

15235360_10107411282202873_4672550772599424941_o

15194586_10107411281080123_4382039104915366550_o

15259247_10107411280680923_7709239977451116078_o

15196069_10107411280211863_6272034377209955886_o

15259538_10107411279672943_7921805461435241472_o

15235832_10107411279403483_8600786328230447790_o

15138410_10107411279173943_4734708237386948009_o

15259712_10107411278809673_8977467356479228137_o

15194542_10107411278520253_5273564156038187778_o

15168639_10107411278111073_7027516552190245_o

15167461_10107411277721853_5451621539840698183_o

15167694_10107411277452393_8246694761096364510_o

15168700_10107411276409483_2342866074459604427_o

15259351_10107411276060183_8382144789962656170_o

15138329_10107411275810683_3983317040082162062_o

15250821_10107411274378553_8054531034108411404_o

JB’s Deli

October 22, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

Enjoyed some corned beef and matzoh ball soup with my mom today!

14712794_10107230015732333_4113744392522553944_o 14712683_10107230015991813_7045836102416678663_o 14633194_10107230016430933_6434846034099347100_o 14711637_10107230016805183_1729771474924151716_o

Chag Sameach and Happy Sukkot!

October 17, 2016December 26, 2016Leave a comment

14711065_10107204838961783_1274986680060180939_o

Today marks the first day of Sukkot, the Festival of Booths! Chag sameach and Happy Sukkot!

Chicago Botanic Garden

October 17, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

High Holidays at Kol Hadash

October 13, 2016December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Glad to be a part of High Holidays services this year at Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation! I sang baritone in the choir and played piano for the Yom Kippur Memorial Service. A wonderful and memorable experience!

14448831_10154116368538655_6387308250126424777_n 14379781_10154092567373655_4793087995239060161_o-2 14856075_10154189136138655_8159309846749276807_o

Miami

July 5, 2016December 27, 2016Leave a comment

Purim at Birmingham Temple

March 24, 2016December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Chag Sameach!

I was honored to be asked to be a part of my congregation’s Purim Spiel this year.

Our performance, entitled “East Side Story,” was a (loose) retelling of the Book of Esther to the tune of songs from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s 1957 musical.

It was a blast!

12916352_754319164705349_3747820637567785761_o-1

12890930_754319401371992_2169670655150956250_o

12891604_754319168038682_7493405727043647363_o

12898189_754319161372016_232662081384812703_o

A Visit to a Historic Detroit Synagogue

March 6, 2016December 22, 2016Leave a comment

It was a great joy to join my 6th grade Sunday School class from The Birmingham Temple School today on a Detroit Jewish History bus tour. Here are some photos from the historic Temple Beth-El in Detroit (the congregation formerly led by Sherwin Wine, incidentally), now owned by Breakers Covenant Church. Many thanks to the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan for making this possible!

Birmingham Temple Winter Mitzvah Project

April 1, 2015December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Photos from The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism‘s Winter Mitzvah Project. Partnering with The NOAH Project Detroit, we made over 650 sandwiches for the homeless.

10968410_10104859187236643_8469971754766948209_n

10421466_570104499793484_4248500632090916329_n

10956057_570104449793489_6166078380243237084_n

10959321_570104156460185_6807644411309000166_n

10154013_570104359793498_1792014281245661166_n

544938_570104336460167_6211886780798232359_n

10957689_570104363126831_3211694201937480295_n

Reader at The Birmingham Temple

March 26, 2015December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Very happy to have been asked to read again last week at The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism. Here is the video from the service–my piece begins at 17:27.

Reader at The Birmingham Temple

January 24, 2015December 26, 2016Leave a comment

The video of last week’s Friday night service at The Birmingham Temple Congregation for Humanistic Judaism on the subject of “freedom.” Rabbi Jeffrey L Falick complimented me on my reading. 🙂

New Piano

January 5, 2015December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Just cashed in two savings bonds to help defray the cost of my beautiful new Essex grand piano. Thank you, Papa (my grandfather, David Donner z”l) and Dr. Hubbard for making this investment in me 29 years ago. I couldn’t be happier with this purchase–here’s to a lifetime of Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Gershwin, and Schubert in my very own space, at last.

10665830_10104871251055653_4195457156215111594_n

Jerusalem

May 9, 2012August 6, 2016Leave a comment

In our visit to Jerusalem we explored around in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The day we were there, there was at least one bar mitzvah ceremony going on:

399051_10101633802877753_1345086958_n (1)

305584_10101633805522453_1774985288_n (1)

544325_10101633806116263_1008275942_n (1)

306243_10101633806660173_839992749_n (1)

295061_10101633807278933_1536916784_n (1)

558466_10101633807862763_2101301923_n (1)

562594_10101633809065353_1709452212_n (1)

579419_10101633809928623_1897282229_n (1)

578092_10101633810592293_2138173972_n (1)

554489_10101633811320833_1308274684_n (1)

549397_10101633812603263_1309139860_n (1)

550867_10101633813217033_1469956430_n (1)

544333_10101633814893673_1326181226_n (1)

560452_10101633815567323_616749542_n (1)

560452_10101633815567323_616749542_n (2)

558690_10101633816320813_1378317114_n (1)

574953_10101633817154143_1406912722_n (1)

574953_10101633817154143_1406912722_n (2)

405155_10101633817857733_1544464245_n (1)

531336_10101633818725993_450701580_n (1)

541985_10101633819539363_2126949742_n (1)

318170_10101633820138163_171740719_n (1)

389668_10101633822708013_1132179179_n (1)

552820_10101633824175073_1685042516_n (1)

577136_10101633824928563_784130384_n (1)

403418_10101633825622173_620990729_n (1)

547746_10101633827288833_1003353543_n (1)

The trumpet player didn’t seem to appreciate being photographed: after I snapped a picture of him, he came right up to me and blasted loudly in my face.

529763_10101633829294813_820437114_n (1)

579473_10101633830123153_415757798_n (1)

165928_10101633837383603_520202408_n (1)

The iconic Dome of the Rock:

545745_10101633838022323_686596257_n (1)

The Kotel, or Western Wall:

546151_10101633840467423_981264220_n (1)

578321_10101633842069213_1136430973_n (1)

579712_10101633843157033_1620578651_n (1)

549248_10101633849145033_154527833_n (1)

551796_10101633852298713_172574795_n (1)

581103_10101633856944403_135164882_n (1)

163369_10101633857697893_976113765_n (1)

547175_10101633858137013_1196572332_n (1)

538106_10101633858660963_203037326_n (1)

581067_10101633863181903_1727420678_n (1)

575118_10101633864304653_1705794584_n (1)

150122_10101633864738783_1774180545_n (1)

541295_10101633865297663_286956089_n (1)

577225_10101633866405443_254362576_n (1)

Tel Aviv and Jaffa

May 7, 2012August 6, 2016Leave a comment

Independence Hall in Tel Aviv:

The Itzhak Rabin Memorial:

An amazing open-air market in Jaffa:

Tzfat and Merom Golan

May 5, 2012August 6, 2016Leave a comment

From May 5-15, 2012, I visited Israel on a Birthright Israel trip. These photos show some of the highlights of my trip.

The old city of Tzfat:

On and around a nearby Kibbutz:

Near the northern border with Lebanon:

Kapadokya, Turkey

August 24, 2011December 26, 2016Leave a comment

From August 8-16, 2011, I attended the Klasik Keyifler Composers’ Cauldron in Kapadkoya, Turkey. Composers Kamran Ince, Marc Mellits, and Michael Ellison, were in residence, along with many fabulous musicians from Turkey, Europe, and the United States. My new string quartet, was workshopped and performed by Orhan Ahıskal and Beril Sun, violins; Meriç Esen, viola; and Heidi Hoffman, cello, for a full house in Şakir Paşa Medrese, an Ottoman School. It was an amazing time and I was so grateful to be a part of it!

DCIM100MEDIA

DCIM100MEDIA

Istanbul – Day 2

August 6, 2011December 26, 2016Leave a comment

The famous Hagia Sophia:

The amazing Ottoman-era Topkapı Palace:

After sightseeing we went to Taksim to get some fresh air and dinner:

The awesome night life in Istanbul:

Istanbul – Day 1 (Continued)

August 6, 2011December 26, 2016Leave a comment

A scenic view of the Anatolian side of the city from across the water:

Formerly Ottoman Palaces, these amazing structures are now upscale hotels:

AMBA0089

When it began to get dark we hung out at this nice riverside park. I picked up a few postcards at a nearby gift shop:

AMBA0102

We ended the night with tea with more new friends, Nil and Tuba (who took the picture):

Istanbul – Day 1

August 5, 2011December 26, 2016Leave a comment

From August 5-19, 2011, I spent two amazing weeks sightseeing and studying in Turkey. This series of blog posts will hope to share some highlights of this incredible trip.

I arrived at Istanbul Atatürk Airport around noon on Friday. I had to buy a new cell phone after discovering that mine did not work in Turkey, and then spent almost an hour trying to connect to the wireless network in the airport before reaching my friend, Murat. He gave me instructions for how to get to Taksim on the Havas shuttle, and we met at an outdoor cafe, where he had tea and I had a beer (Efes, one of the national brews).

This is the music store where Murat teaches guitar. We went inside and I met the owner–an extremely nice guy.

Turkish coffee with new friends at an outdoor cafe.

The restaurant where Murat and I ate dinner the first night.

This soup is made with lentils. Very nice.

Meatballs with sliced tomatoes. Delicious!

And of course, tea after dinner.

Vienna

July 23, 2010December 26, 2016Leave a comment

The ticket counter in the Budapest-Keleti train station:

The food on the train from Budapest to Vienna. It was pretty great, but we won’t talk about what it cost…

The street leading to the apartment where Mozart composed “The Marriage of Figaro” and some of Mozart’s letters, from inside the museum:

A view from outside the window and the first page of Mozart’s manuscript of “Don Giovanni”:

The original title page from “Don Giovanni,” the first page of the manuscript of the “Dies Irae: from Mozart’s Requiem, and Mozart’s death mask (possibly). Photos inside are not allowed, so I had to be discreet:

Some lunch and a few sights around the city:

The Beethoven Pasqualati House in Vienna. I arrived too late to see the inside, but I got to take some pictures of the exterior. I don’t know why there is so much graffiti:

Budapest – part 2

July 22, 2010December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Meat and potatoes at Chagall Cafe. Not exactly sure what kind of meat it was:

After lunch I had time for a guided tour of the city. Our first stop was the Synagogue. Hungary had one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe before World War II, and the Synagogue in Budapest is one of the largest in the world: