Loretta Weinberger (Kay-Feld), from London to Ra’anana, 2011.
By ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMANLORETTA WEINBERGER (KAY-FELD), FROM LONDON TO RA’ANANA, 2011(photo credit: DOROTHY EISDORFER)
When Loretta Weinberger was expecting her first child, she put her Royal College of Music training to good use by composing a lullaby. Upon hearing the tune for the first time, her husband inquired whether it was a Brahms piece. His amused wife informed him that she’d written the music and lyrics herself.“He said, ‘In that case, please do not play the great composers again. Just keep playing your own material!” recalls London-born Weinberger.She took his advice to heart. Over the course of a long and fruitful career in the UK, US and Australia as a composer, lyricist and author, Weinberger – whose professional name is Loretta Kay-Feld – has written hundreds of songs that have been performed in venues ranging from Sesame Street to British musical theater to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.The latter song, “Gonna Keep America Singing,” was played by the United States Marine Band during the pre-inauguration parade by request of the president-elect. Half a year earlier, she had received a note from then-president Barack Obama praising the patriotic song after it was performed at a Fourth of July event hosted by the US ambassador to Israel.Fulfilling a long-held dream, Weinberger picked up and moved to Israel in 2011.“I wanted to come here ever since I was 12 years old. I decided this is where I wanted to spend my life. But life had plans of its own and I spent many years in the United States writing children’s songs for television and raising a family. I also spent very special times in Australia,” said Weinberger, whose early career was singing with orchestras in London theaters. “In 2011, I felt aliyah was either now or never.”The big move did not hamper Weinberger’s musical and other creative endeavors in the least.Working in synchrony with American First Lady Melania Trump’s campaign to reduce bullying, Weinberger has published Brava Bella and the Pink Snow, the first in a planned series of five children’s books addressing this pervasive issue in a way that encourages creative problem-solving.Weinberger’s fascination with multiculturalism inspired her to write an epic novel that introduces children of all ages to the mystical, magical Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime culture through the adventures of an Aboriginal boy and his hybrid animal friend. She is in discussions with a publisher and a film animation company and has completed a musical score for the piece using didgeridoos as well as other authentic Australian instruments.Her forthcoming musical, Upstairs Downstairs 1897, for which she wrote the book, music and lyrics, is in pre-production in London. “Really Royal in Ra’anana,” a concert medley of this work and other compositions of hers, is scheduled to be performed across Israel in the coming months. (Weinberger said she’d be pleased to send the piano and vocal score for two of her songs, “The Sabbath Song” and “A Hymn for Israel,” which can be seen on YouTube, to any choir requesting them.)And she has another project brewing, this one prompted by her concern that not all Israeli children who would like to learn the arts have the means to do so.“I strongly believe that all children, irrespective of ethnicity or family financial needs, should be given the opportunity to study music, dance and cultural arts, and to that end I would like philanthropists and interested parties to assist me in building a suitable cultural center to serve eager and underprivileged children here in Israel,” she says.Weinberger is blessed with four multi-talented children of her own: Dorothy Eisberger of Ra’anana, founder of DanceFit; magician and filmmaker David James of Los Angeles; artist and lifestyle designer Claire Cernoia of Paris and Los Angeles; and rare-book collector and dealer Adam Weinberger of New York.When they were small, whenever one of them needed some behavioral intervention, Weinberger would compose an original song on the spot as a creative approach to discipline. “Every time they were naughty they got a song as a ‘punishment.’ It was very effective; they’d stop what they were doing and join in. It was the only way I knew how!”She says that one of her greatest joys is watching her three grandchildren being raised in a creative environment, no doubt modeled on her own unusual child-rearing methods.In addition to music, Weinberger enjoys playing competitive Scrabble as well as swimming and hiking across Israel. There is much she loves about her adopted country, from the friendliness of its people to its uniquely varied topography and climate. Among her favorite off-the-beaten-track places to explore with her hiking group are the Crusader-era Montfort Castle in the Upper Galilee, the Bell Caves in Beit Guvrin and Utopia Orchid Park in the Sharon.“Israel is an energetic land, full of color, variety and creativity that I find inspiring. One meets people of endless spirit and innovation and, of course, the ever-shining sun reflects its warmth on a people of great diversity,” Weinberger says.“It offers me endless places to discover and follow my professional instincts,” says this optimistic, energetic and creative young-at-heart soul.
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