{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/ww76t0hq9k/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Conviser, David"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/115/original/Boxed_Milken_Center_logo.png?1628711583","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Preferred Citation"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eConviser, David. 1998. Interview by Barry Serota. Milken Archive Oral History Project. 29 March.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["Milken Family Foundation"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e© Milken Family Foundation. Unauthorized use is prohibited. For inquiries, please contact info@milkenarchive.org.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Serota, Barry (Interviewer)","Conviser, David (Cantor/Hazzan)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["1998-03-29"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["Miami, FL (Place of Recording)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (Primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eOral history with cantor David Conviser. Conviser begins the interview by talking about his dad, a choir conductor and composer who worked with many famous cantors. Throughout the rest of the interview, Conviser details the many musical figures he has worked with over his career, such as Robert Shaw, Jan Peerce, and Max Helfman.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["Beta SP"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["Oral Histories (genre/form)","Jews — Music (Topical Term)","Choral music (Topical Term)","Helfman, Max (Person or Corporate Body)","Shaw, Robert, 1916-1999 (Person or Corporate Body)","Robert Shaw Chorale (Person or Corporate Body)","Hershman, Mordechai (Person or Corporate Body)","Toscanini, Arturo, 1867-1957. (Person or Corporate Body)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["Abraham Ellstein (1907-1963), Abraham Wolf Binder (1895-1966), Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), Berele Chagy (1892-1954), Brandeis-Bardin Institute, cantor, Cantors’ Choir, Danny Kaye (1911-1987), Ezio Pinza (bass) (1892-1957), Ferde Grofé (1892-1972), Fritz Reiner (1888-1963), Harlem—NY, Hebrew Arts Quartet, Hebrew Union College, Herman Wohl (1877-1936), Jacob Ben-Ami (1890-1977), Jan Peerce (tenor) (1904-1984), Juilliard, Lazar Weiner (1897-1982), Leo Low (1878-1960), Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), Louis Lewandowski (1821-1894), Max Helfman (1901-1963), Miami Beach—Florida, Mordechai Hershman (1888-1940), Moshe Ganchoff (1904-1997), Regina Resnik (soprano) (1922-2013), Richard Tucker (tenor) (1913-1975), Robert Shaw (1916-1999), Robert Shaw Chorale, Salomon Sulzer (1804-1890), School of Sacred Music, Shlomo Bardin (1898-1976), synagogue"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eOral history with cantor David Conviser. Conviser begins the interview by talking about his dad, a choir conductor and composer who worked with many famous cantors. Throughout the rest of the interview, Conviser details the many musical figures he has worked with over his career, such as Robert Shaw, Jan Peerce, and Max Helfman.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u0026copy; Milken Family Foundation. Unauthorized use is prohibited. For inquiries, please contact info@milkenarchive.org.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/115/original/Boxed_Milken_Center_logo.png?1628711583","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/110/832/small/David-Conviser.jpg?1618940694","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - X2254_Conviser_David.mp4"]},"duration":3291.904,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/110/832/small/David-Conviser.jpg?1618940694","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-milken.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/110/832/original/X2254_Conviser_David.mp4?1616454838","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":3291.904,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Conviser_David [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: We are here at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach, the sun is shining, and we are visiting with Cantor David Conviser. And we’re gonna share some thoughts about his life in music, and Jewish music. And I think we’ll start about the beginning, dealing with your family history.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=15.0,32.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Right.\n\nSEROTA: Your father was a distinguished conductor-composer. Tell us about him.\n\nCONVISER: My father was a very well-known choir — they called it “choir director,” in those days. And, as a matter of fact, I have a list of all the choir directors in the ‘20s with me now. And he’s — and then, I had an uncle who was a choir director, Meyer Conviser.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=32.0,58.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: And your father was…\n\nCONVISER: My father was…\n\nSEROTA: Elliott.\n\nCONVISER: Yeah. He was Elias. And he worked with the greatest cantors of the era. He was a favorite of people like [Berele] Chagy and [Mordechai] Hershman. And, as a little boy, I remember these people coming to my walk-up apartment in Harlem, rehearsing. And I’d see Hershman take his jacket off, and they’d all be sweating, and working on these things. And all, most of the activity took place up there with the children. And they’d go out in the street and say to a kid, “Hey, you want to sing? You’ll make money.” And the kid would say, “Sure.” And they’d take him in the house. Some of those kids were Jan Peerce, who was, like, ten. And then, the other one was Danny Kaye, believe it or not. And Danny Kaye was what they call a “chevreman.” My mother would say, “Get out of here.” He’s chasing my sister. And I have an autograph book which has a heart on it, signed by Danny Kaye, and it says, “May these two names never be separated, XXX, David Kaminsky.”","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=58.0,130.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Where did you live in Harlem?\n\nCONVISER: I lived, I was born in Harlem, on 103rd Street. And I lived in Harlem, on 103rd Street, right off Fifth Avenue.\n\nSEROTA: Did your father have a synagogue position, at that time, in Harlem?\n\nCONVISER: He had, he usually did not have a regular position, but he went from one synagogue to another. Like the famous synagogues, I remember, as a little boy, with the — what are some of the…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=130.0,155.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: I know there was Ohab Zedek, but I think Herman Wohl conducted there.\n\nCONVISER: Yeah. I know he did, there.\n\nSEROTA: And Shaare Zedek was also in Harlem, on 118th Street. And…\n\nCONVISER: I forget the name of the, the most famous synagogue of all, that my father did a lot with Hershman there. Matter of fact, when Hershman — most of these people were at the ends of their careers, when I sang with them. But Hershman, I did — I was a, an alto, singing, when Hershman was the cantor for my father’s choir. And Chagy — these people, I was at the tail end of all these people. But I remember them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=155.0,194.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Let’s say, when your father worked with Hershman - was just that for a specific Shabbos, or for a wedding?\n\nCONVISER: No, no. He had Hershman for everything. Whenever Hershman wanted somebody, it was always Conviser. Always.\n\nSEROTA: What kind of music did they sing?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=194.0,208.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Well, the, a lot of the music was, was standard music, like the kind — Lewandowski and Sulzer and Shestapol, and things like that. I have all this stuff in the original booklets. And the interesting thing is that when, you know, in choral music — which I’ve done all my life, with Robert Shaw — in choral music, you only, you get the full score. Soprano, alto, tenor and bass — all male. But in the synagogue music, you got individual parts — say, alto, the soprano, tenor and bass. And most, a lot of sopranos were, were, were handled by men, because women were not allowed in the choir. See, I grew up in an Orthodox atmosphere, even though I changed, after the war, and got into the Reform movement.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=208.0,256.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: They didn’t have boys sing the soprano line?\n\nCONVISER: Yes. We had little boys singing the soprano line and the alto line. But in order to give a point to the music, there were always a few people who were famous sopranos. We used to call them “somebody der sopran.” And I showed you a picture of Yankele der sopran. And he had a huge voice; not like the castrati. Now, the castrati — there’s another story. Now the castrati maintained their strength and their lungs.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=256.0,284.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: So these singers were basically singing a loud falsetto?\n\nCONVISER: A loud falsetto. But some of them were fantastic. I mean, they almost sounded like good, strong women sopranos. Some of them did. There were all these famous people, like Yankele der Bass and Yankele der Sopran and things — they always had the little name on them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=284.0,306.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: The choir that your father had was basically his personal choir.\n\nCONVISER: His personal choir.\n\nSEROTA: How many singers did he usually have in this ensemble?\n\nCONVISER: Well, he would have — well, as the picture shows, with Jan Peerce, it shows — I don’t know — it depended. I have one picture of a of a choir in Europe which had maybe 30, 40 people - mostly children, with some men. But he would have a soprano; he would have a bass and a tenor. Jan Peerce, as a matter of fact, was a tenor in my father’s choir.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=306.0,339.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: But first, he sang as a child.\n\nCONVISER: First, he sang as a child. Then, when he was already at the Music Hall — Radio City — he sang for my father on weekends, like Saturday Shabbosim, and things, just to make a few bucks. My mother used to say, “He’ll do anything for the buck,” you know. He loved money. She said, “A glacht gelt”. So he would sing. And I was an alto, and I sang duets with him. And it’s interesting that, many years later, we, we did the same thing in the Kol Nidre recording at RCA.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=339.0,370.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Do you remember any of the duets you sang with Peerce?\n\nCONVISER: Yes. Sure, I do.\n\nSEROTA: Go ahead. Sing a…\n\nCONVISER: Well, I don’t remember the, the duets I sang. But one of them, I don’t remember the name — \u003chums\u003e da da dee da da da da dee da da da dee da da da da dee. But they were in thirds, you know, like all Jewish music, either in sixths or in thirds. And the rabbis, who have decided they all want to sing — I must put this in here. I have never seen a rabbi yet who didn’t think he was a singer. And it was, it really drives the cantors crazy, because when they start a nice, soft section, the rabbi comes in and tries to duet with him. They sing in horrible thirds. But Peerce sang occasionally with my father. And then, I had the experience with him in the Bach aria group for six years, where he was one of the soloists. And then, I had experience with him singing with the NBC Symphony. And I have pictures of him with that, where we did, we did the, the Carmen on recordings. He sang Don José. We did Die Fledermaus, where he was in that album, too. And we did a…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=370.0,455.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: The Carmen’s with Reiner conducting, I believe.\n\nCONVISER: Reiner was conducting. And one day — this is interesting, because it, it applies to Jan Peerce and my father - we walk, he walked over to, to Reiner — Fritz Reiner. And he said, “I want you to meet this guy, David Conviser.” And Reiner said, “Oh, well, how do you do?” And he says, “This guy’s father was my first teacher.” So, so Reiner said, “Oh, that’s wonderful.” And then, he adds, “And I think he still owes me money.” So it’s a long, a funny story in our lives, you know. “He owes me money.” Then, then, Peerce would come down to Miami Beach, right down here, and do his seders. So, so did Tucker and many other cantors. And he would come down, and he asked me to prepare choirs, and I would prepare a professional choir for him. I got them from the University of Miami, and some others that I knew personally. And I would prepare the seder for them. And then, somebody else, whom I assigned, would come and conduct the actual seder. He always said, “I wish you could do it,” you know. I said, “I can’t. I’ve got my own seder.”","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=455.0,524.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Did Peerce select the music? Did he give you compositions arranged for him by other people?\n\nCONVISER: Some of, some of it, but — some of it, but most of the time, it was his standard stuff. And he would do his solo bits. Some of the stuff he had sent down, where he sang with the choir.\n\nSEROTA: Did he have any arrangements, let’s say, by Ellstein, or Barash","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=524.0,540.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: He had arrangements by Ellstein.\n\nSEROTA: …or Morris Barash?\n\nCONVISER: Well, Morris Barash — they’re all, they’re all excellent, terrific friends of mine. The Barash brothers. And, unfortunately, my dear friend Barash died this year, last year.\n\nSEROTA: Jack.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=540.0,556.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: And Jack was my accompanist for many, many years, with my Cantors’ Choir. You know, we have a Cantors’ Choir down here that’s been functioning for years. Twenty-five cantors.\n\nSEROTA: Did you initiate the Cantors’ Choir, or it existed before you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=556.0,567.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: It was, it, it, it was not a cantors’ choir before me. Like, three or four cantors from Miami Beach — old-timers — decided they would do some concerts. So, when I came down, they asked me to — and I said, “Well, why don’t we get some more cantors?” And, little by little, we built up the thing from little concerts, different temples, to these magnificent concerts we had. And I have some tapes of those — of the concerts at the auditorium, the old auditorium. Before they made it into the Jackie Gleason, it was the Miami Beach Auditorium. Now, believe it or not, we packed the place. Why? Because people who lived down here, around the Raleigh and South Beach, were old people, retired people, and they were within easy walking distance of the auditorium. They died out, and so did the audiences. So that now, when I do a concert, I usually do them at a synagogue. And the synagogue foots the bill, and they charge, they charge for the tickets. And we do this, we get money into our treasury. And we use that for, we have been, we had, we used it for teaching young boys cantorial art. We used it for perpetuating the cantorial image.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=567.0,645.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What sort of repertoire did you perform with the Cantors’ Choir?\n\nCONVISER: I did the great standards. The great standard repertoire, which was Adonai Zacharanu\n\nSEROTA: Nowakowsky.\n\nCONVISER: And I think that was done by your friend, Joe.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=645.0,662.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Gross.\n\nCONVISER: Joe Gross. I think. And I did that with, I did that with a choir, with Ganchoff in some synagogue in New York. And he was the soloist. And that’s the first time I ever did that with him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=662.0,677.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: When did that take place?\n\nCONVISER: That took place while I was at Hebrew Union College, in the ‘50s. And I conducted the Hebrew Union College Choir. In other words, I was the student conductor of the Cantors Associate — the Cantors, the Cantors School of Sacred Music. And when I graduated, they appointed me, in place of Binder — Abraham Binder — to be the choral director. So, I was on the faculty.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=677.0,702.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: I think there was a ten-inch LP record that was produced, of holiday music…\n\nCONVISER: Me.\n\nSEROTA: …where you were conducting on one side, and Freed…\n\nCONVISER: I’m glad you mentioned that, because this was called Great Days We Honor. Or Great Days We Honor and Great Holidays We Honor. And I talk about, in my book — I’ve published a book on, on these, on these days. And, interesting enough, I call it The Singrl. And you know what the singrl was?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=702.0,729.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Tell me.\n\nCONVISER: Do you know what singrl…\n\nSEROTA: Tell us.\n\nCONVISER: The singerel, in the, in the days, in the 19th century, 18th century, the cantors, unfortunately, most of them were not, let’s say, the way they say now, they were deprived, musically deprived — is that what you call it? And not many of them were very good musicians. And, by virtue of their astounding vocal ability, and personality, they, they, they did well. But a lot of them, most of them did, couldn’t read music, or had no conception of what music’s all about. So they needed somebody to stand by them and help them. The boom — you know, some little boomka here and there. And to, to sing in thirds or in octaves. It’s, it’s unheard-of, at that time, until Lewandowski came along, and Sulzer made four-part harmony. And I believe Lewandowski was a singerel too, in his time. They would just stand and help out. So I, when I wrote this book, I thought that would be a wonderful title, since I’m really a singerl myself - in a way. And uh, gradually, they added more than two people, they added like a third person to sing. Then, suddenly, four-part harmony. It was, it was all stolen, of course, from Schubert, and the people who were writing choral music at that time. Now, Sulzer, for all that he contributed to, to, to Jewish music, borrowed much of this stuff — and why not? Nobody, nobody was able to go to music schools, especially Jews. No one went to music school. Mendelssohn’s parents converted, oddly enough, when his grandfather was the great Moses Mendelssohn. But he still maintained — Eric Werner, who was one of my professors, great musicologist — told me that he had discovered some letters of Mendelssohn’s, and I think he published it in one of his books — where he felt strongly about his Jewishness, and he kept the name Mendelssohn. Bartholdy Mendelssohn.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=729.0,858.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: When did you attend the School of Sacred Music?\n\nCONVISER: I went to School of Sacred Music and got my master there in, in ’57.\n\nSEROTA: Now, before you went to the School of Sacred Music…\n\nCONVISER: I was with the Robert Shaw Chorale.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=858.0,873.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: And you had a tremendous background in terms of music…\n\nCONVISER: Yes. Yes, I did.\n\nSEROTA: …and Jewish music, and so on. Now, when you were singing with Robert Shaw, you mentioned to me before that you had occasion to sing on a recording that Peerce made. His first recording of Kol Nidre.\n\nCONVISER: That’s right.\n\nSEROTA: Now, can you tell us a little about that?\n\nCONVISER: Well, on one side, he did A Din Toire Mit Gott. See? It was a great, great recording. And on the other side, we met to do Kol Nidre. I remember, one of our boys corrected him in some of the Hebrew, because there’s a little passage in Kol Nidre. And when it got to the little duet — da dee da da dee da da da da dee — he asked me if I would do it with him. And so, we got that done. And it’s really a brilliant — I use the same rec-, the same arrangement for my cantorial work. I did the exact Kol Nidre that he did in my temple.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=873.0,923.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: That’s Russotto’s arrangement.\n\nCONVISER: Yes. Russotto’s arrangement. And I copied him, in the old days.\n\nSEROTA: How big a choral ensemble did he use, for that recording?\n\nCONVISER: We usually had — well, the Robert Shaw Chorale had 30 people on our touring group, and an orchestra, a small orchestra. And this recording, we had about 30. Sometimes, we would get extra people when we did male — like with Margaret Truman. We didn’t want her to, we didn’t want any sopranos to be heard, because she had a nice voice, you know. But, you know the story about the way Harry Truman wrote a letter to the…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=923.0,957.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Paul Hume?\n\nCONVISER: Paul Hume. I’ve got that in my book, with the exact quote, you know. I don’t want to say it now.\n\nSEROTA: Right.\n\nCONVISER: And she was a sweet girl. And we did a program, “Margaret Truman Sings.” And we backed her up at Carnegie Hall. And then we did a recording, which is the RCA, and so that you wouldn’t hear any male. But when we did male recordings - like Sigmund Romberg, who was a character, you know - he would say things like, Vindvoods! Vindvoods\u003e. It’s the funniest thing, but I loved doing that. It was so different than the cantorial or the classics, to do these — Student Prince, and all that stuff.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=957.0,994.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: The only recording that the Shaw Chorale was involved in of a Jewish nature was the, the RCA session of Kol Nidre, then?\n\nCONVISER: Uh… no. Not recording, but on tour, we did two Hebrew songs. There’s a funny story about that. We did a song, Ki Mitzion — Helfman. And one of the — we, we did this out in Oklahoma, I think, in some cow town. Because we, every night, we were in another city - for years. And a lady came backstage, and she said to Robert Shaw, “What it is this Ki Mitzion business? What’s that — Jew, Jew music?” This was her conception. And the sign on our bus said, “Robert Shaw Chorale,” so a guy came up to us and said, “When are you appearing at the rodeo?” Corral, you know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=994.0,1043.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Right.\n\nCONVISER: But that was a great experience. We made, I think we made about 50 albums. So, Ki Mitzion was one of the pieces we did on tour, for an entire year. Brilliant arrangement, by — and with the Robert Shaw Chorale, it just raised the roof, at the end. We also did Laila Hadmama, which was a, which also — I don’t know who wrote that. I think Helfman has it in his book. But we had it arranged by a fellow called Levant — Levine. Moshe Levine - who was active in, in music in New York, 92nd Street…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1043.0,1073.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Maurice Levine?\n\nCONVISER: Maurice Levine, yeah. And he’s a good friend of mine, and he, he was at the 92nd Street Y. I don’t know what he’s doing now. But Tanglewood, at Tanglewood was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life, though.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1073.0,1090.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Where did you first study music? Did-\n\nCONVISER: Juilliard School.SEROTA: Did your father teach you anything?\n\nCONVISER: My father taught — well, in my book, I say the following: When the cantors would come to the house, my mother would give them tea and stuff. He would say, “Lie down on the floor,” and he’d throw a book at me; one of these books that I have, with the choir music. And he said, “Look at the black things. If they go up, you sing up. If you go down, you sing down.” That’s how I learned how to read music. And I became pretty good, pretty, pretty proficient at it. And…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1090.0,1123.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What about counting? I notice that some cantors, they can’t count.\n\nCONVISER: A lot of, a lot of cantors can’t count. And it’s a very, them, you know, I tell stories about it in my book, about the cantors who, who would get lost completely. They would say, they, they demand that you hum, like an organ. They didn’t realize you’re a human being. And as soon as you’re finished, we’d go, like, and you’d say, “Mmm,” and he’d start us again. And I mentioned, I, the funniest thing is that some of these cantors were so great — absolutely. There was a man called Kantorof, with a red beard.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1123.0,1158.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Shmuel Kantorof.\n\nCONVISER: I don’t know what his name…\n\nSEROTA: Samuel.\n\nCONVISER: And he, he had a red beard — he looks like Santa Claus. I was just a little kid. And I’ll never forget how, how thrilled I was, with him, because I don’t, I don’t thrill that easily. And how thrilled I was with his — he was like, his whole body was into it. I never heard a cantor go into it that deep. It was, it was just the most fantastic experience. That I remember him, just an isolated thing in my life. And I’ve sung with all of them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1158.0,1188.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Were there any other cantors that made a particular impression on you?\n\nCONVISER: Yes, they did. Most of them. Because they were all great - the old-timers. And they, and I pointed out that they were too dumb — I don’t know whether to use that term — they were too dumb to know that it’s impossible to sing those notes. They, they could sing F above high C, and not even realize that they’re doing an impossible job. And then, they could do pianissimos and fortissimos and pyrotechnics that no, no singer nowadays could ever attempt to do it. Nobody could do that. They were fantastic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1188.0,1223.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: How were they able to do all this?\n\nCONVISER: I don’t know. I don’t know. They just had these, these fantastic stuff inside, that they could handle. And it was just fan — I, I don’t even know how they could do it. As a singer myself, I realize what they were doing. And I don’t think they knew.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1223.0,1245.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: When did you go to Juilliard?\n\nCONVISER: I went to Juilliard in the, in the ‘40s. And I majored in voice and composition. And I studied with, I had a course with Ferde Grofé — you know, the fellow who wrote the…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1245.0,1262.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Grand Canyons?\n\nCONVISER: Grand Canyons. I mean, he told us in class — and I mention this, too, in the book — that he never saw the Grand Canyon. And I don’t know whether he told the truth or not, but he said, “You know, I wrote this in a Chicago hotel room.”\n\nSEROTA: I think the same was told about some of the arrangers or composers for other Hollywood movie music works, like High Noon — who wrote the music for High Noon? Tom Tiomkin?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1262.0,1287.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Tiomkin.\n\nSEROTA: He never was west of the Mississippi.\n\nCONVISER: You know, we were, we were, we were called, the Robert Shaw was called in Tanglewood one morning. And I got all excited, you know. They said, “We’re doing a movie in Hollywood called ‘Duel in the Sun’.” Remember that movie? And they said, “We would like you to come out to Hollywood and do the music for ‘Duel in the Sun’.” There was choral music in it. So, we were jumping up and down for glee, because we thought, here, we’re going, you know, to California, to do the music for the…. But Shaw didn’t want it. He turned down a lot of things. He was a very, a very sincere guy, who wouldn’t do anything to show off. Everything had to be legit, and I admired him a lot for that. He didn’t show off. And then, Leonard Bernstein, whom I knew pretty well in Tanglewood and other jobs I did with him, and personal relationships, he was more of a showman. Showman. He’d get up in, in the early days, he would jump up and down and…. But everyone admired him, and the fact that everyone could call him “Lenny,” shows the kind of a person he was. But he was a great guy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1287.0,1352.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What was the reason you decided to go to the School of Sacred Music?\n\nCONVISER: We were on tour. Well, first of all, I had grown up, never had a childhood, a normal childhood, because my father, in the opening of my book is, my mother waking me up to go to shul. That’s the first page. And I get up, sleepy-eyed, and she says, “Papa is already ready to go to the shul.” And it would be some Shabbat, Shabbos morning shul, or some other job that he had. And I never was able to play in the streets with the other kids, because I was what, what he would call a, a, a, a commodity; because I was supposed to be very good. I was — they tell me I was one of the best there was, as an alto soloist. I have to believe that, because there’s no tape or anything. But he — that, that’s, that’s the way I started. And I sang, year after year after year. And even when I was in the Army, I would come in, fly in from California or wherever I was stationed, and I would put on a tallis and stand there. And everybody would — the women, and a little, looking at me, gee. And I could just see in their eyes, “My son is somewhere else, and here you are, standing up there, singing in the shul.” So, in the Army, I found out there was such a thing as Reform. I never heard of it. I worked as a chaplain’s assistant. And I worked for the Catholic and for the Protestant and for the Jewish rabbi, who was a, who was a graduate of the Seminary. And his name was Klein. And I worked for him on Friday night, and for the other guys on Sunday. Then, when I went into the Robert Shaw Chorale, I was always singing in the synagogue. Always. I never stopped since I was six years old.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1352.0,1452.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: So, after you sang with your father, who did you sing with, in synagogues?\n\nCONVISER: I - he wouldn’t let me go anywhere else, except my uncle. And my uncle had one thing with Joseph Rosenblatt, and I was called in. And that’s about the only choir I ever sang with.\n\nSEROTA: Let’s say, in the post-war years, before you went into the School of Sacred Music.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1452.0,1475.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Then, then, I was still singing, all the time. And then, when I — two of the boys in the Robert Shaw Chorale were Jewish boys, who had Jewish backgrounds. And one of them — Al Zimmer, who recently passed away, he was one of my best friends — and was a cantor in Brookline.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1475.0,1492.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Ohabei Shalom, I think.\n\nCONVISER: Yes. And Al and I were on tour, and we, one of the stories I have in the book is, Al and I were hired by my father to sing downtown somewhere, in the South Third Street Shul, or something like that - down there. And it was a highly Orthodox shul. And we decided, Al and I — and we were doing Robert Shaw work that day — that we would go down, and come back and finish the recording, since we had recordings at RCA. And we got off at the station before the shul. And you know what? When we arrived at the shul, these two yeshiva buchem were standing there, with these black beards, and saying, “Ah, hah. Gekhapt.” And they caught us. Because they said we rode on Saturday. So, they told my father, they go, “You can’t sing.” And my father says, “If he doesn’t sing, if they don’t sing, I don’t sing.” And, as I recall, as I mentioned, my father packed up and we left. But it’s interesting, that they wouldn’t let us go up on a pulpit. Well, Al, Al was very much into — even more than me, as far as Hebrew. He had gone to yeshiva. And the other boy also was a, had a background. And when we felt that we had had enough of the Robert Shaw Chorale — I mean, it was getting, after years of traveling in suitcases and doing concerts. It was great, wonderful. But there was no future in it. The only one who had a future was Bob. And he said, “Well, I’m going to try to get all of you $5,000 a year.” In those days, that was, you know, $5,000 a year. When I first got to Miami, they, they published the list of the 25 most eligible bachelors, all making 25,000 dollars a year. So it just shows you what kind of a…. And I was getting 20,000 dollars, 20,000 a year for being a cantor. You know. So, that was big money. You know, people at the Fontainebleau would say, “Hey, there’s a cantor. He’s got a big job there. He makes 25,000 a year, and that’s…”. And that’s how I met my wife - at the Fontainebleau. Well, anyway, we heard the, Al heard of the, the Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music through a friend of his. There was a, Rosenblatt’s son was there, Henry. And many of the very fine cantors who, who became very great, very famous later on. We all were in that opening class, second class. And he, we, Jan — Jan — Al said, “This is a tremendous, a tremendous career for us,” because the other guys were making money. They were singing in different…. So we decided, we told Bob Shaw that we’re going to leave him, and go to the Hebrew Union College.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1492.0,1650.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: That was ’56? \n\nCONVISER: That was ’52.\n\nSEROTA: ’52. Who were your teachers at the Hebrew Union College, at that time?\n\nCONVISER: Well, I had Binder. I had Ganchoff. I had Werner. I had the, this wonderful guy at Temple Israel in New York — Temple Emmanuel in New York — I loved him. What was his name?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1650.0,1669.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Rudinoff?\n\nCONVISER: No, no, no. He…\n\nSEROTA: Saminsky?\n\nCONVISER: No. Saminsky was the choir director there. But, anyway, he was the cantor there. And we had — oh, we had, you mentioned the name of his son, of the — what was the name of the composer? You said his son is now a composer? Anyway…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1669.0,1690.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Shur, I mentioned Bonia Shur before.\n\nCONVISER: No, not Bonia Shur. You know, I was, I was chosen to be the music director at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati when I graduated, because I was the student conductor. And then I was the regular conductor. And Binder said to me, “What do you want to do? Do you want to be a cantor, or do you want to get this terrific job in Cincinnati, being the music director for the rabbinical school?” At that moment, I got a letter from my former rabbi in Elmont, Long Island — Baumgard, who is now retired down here at Beth Am. And he wrote me a long letter, which I still have, urging me to accept this job at Beth Shalom, which is one of the best jobs in the country, at that time. So I thought it over, and I decided to come to Miami. And I’ve been there ever since. Now, I’m cantor emeritus.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1690.0,1739.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Was John Hart a member of the faculty at the…\n\nCONVISER: No, he was not.\n\nSEROTA: Not at that time?\n\nCONVISER: No, he was not.\n\nSEROTA: Abraham Shapiro?\n\nCONVISER: Abraham Shapiro came in, for a short time. He was, he was one of the cantors that sang a lot with my father. That, that my father directed many choirs with him. Nice guy, I remember him very well. Kapov-Kagan was one of the cantors. Just name them — they were all…. One of, one of the favorite cantors was Berele Chagy. Now, Berele Chagy, my mother told me, offered me a quarter, 25 cents to sing “Yes, We Have No Bananas”. I guess I did it, and I got the money. Twenty-five cents was a lot of money, in those days - a lot of candy bars.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1739.0,1779.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: A number of the cantors that you mentioned as having sung with your father are not known to have been readers.\n\nCONVISER: My father would use the term “drong” — D-R-O-N-G. Which means somebody who is, uh, musically challenged — let’s put it that way.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1779.0,1795.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: It means, literally, “a post.” Right? Like a piece of wood.\n\nCONVISER: It means a piece of wood - I point that out - but, a piece of wood. And I tell you, it’s a — my father had a natural musical talent. He was, when he, his best friends were famous theatrical people, like Lazar Fried and Jacob Ben-Ami, from the Jewish theater. And I remember, as a tiny little boy, Jacob Ben-Ami was his best friend. And they used to share a, a suit, to go for auditions. And he told my father, “Go to Juilliard, or do this.” And my father was too lazy. He was a lazy man; a wonderful guy - very talented, but lazy. He didn’t, he didn’t have any ambition. And my mother would urge him to do the…. But his talent pushed him along. He was a wonderful, natural, natural — he could read anything — do mi fa sol sol, fa sol fa, you know. He just could read like the wind. And he instilled it in me, I guess. So that he would come home and say, “Ooh, I got this drong here.” Famous cantors, I’m sorry to say. And so, he would do, what he would do is, he’d bring them in, just as some of our opera singers — and I won’t mention any names, as you probably know — were coached by, by Barash. See? He would sit down and play the opera thing over and over and over again for these famous opera singers, so that they could…. It’s amazing how many people cannot read music. Some people boast about it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1795.0,1880.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: They say Pinza couldn’t read.\n\nCONVISER: Pinza. I did a show with Pinza. A Christmas show. And I did Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer that Robert Shaw picked four of us out. And we came out on a — I wish I had that tape. It’s somewhere. He had The Ezio Pinza Show. And he brought, he, he, we came out, four of us, with scarves. Al was one of them. And two others — a girl and another girl — a quartet. And we sang, Rudolph, the red-nosed rein… — in four-part harmony. And he would shake our hand, that we did that show with him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1880.0,1913.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: There was a man at WEVD, the Jewish radio station in New York, Garnett — Joseph Garnett. And it was mentioned previously in one of our interviews that Mr. Garnett used to coach Richard Tucker.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1913.0,1925.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Well, it, Richard Tucker was one of the better ones, you know. We met with him many times down here, as a guest of ours, when we had our Cantors Association meetings. But some of the…\n\nSEROTA: Did he sing with your Cantors Association?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1925.0,1940.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: No, he didn’t. Peerce did, many times. Peerce sang with a, a, Chanukah concert at the big auditorium, at the Convention Hall. And I directed the choir for that. And it was a very nice evening. He, he was an unusual guy. We would, I was what they would call the “Star-Spangled Banner HaTikvah Boy of Miami Beach.” And that was me. Like, I was an “Oh, Promise Me”. They called it, “Oh, Promise Me.” That was me. I was an “Oh, Promise Me”. And my manager…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1940.0,1972.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: You did a lot of weddings, a lot of…\n\nCONVISER: Weddings. And my manager — what was his name? Ler…. He’s a choir director, I don’t know how old, or whether he’s still alive. Sterner.\n\nSEROTA: Samuel Sterner.\n\nCONVISER: Sam Sterner sang with my father’s choir. As a soprano, I think. And you know, a false soprano, when he was younger. Then, he, he used to take my father’s side — he’d just take me to weddings. And he would tell the people at the wedding halls, “If you don’t start at 8:15, I’m pulling my boy out.” And he did, many times. And I would maybe do three, four weddings a night. Going from one to the other. Promise Me. I was a very famous “Oh, Promise Me”.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=1972.0,2011.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Oh, do you remember the repertoire of music that was performed at weddings, either by your father or…\n\nCONVISER: Yes. I have, it was, Ma Tovu was always performed. Ma tovu. And they had Mi adir — mi adir a la kol, mi baruch a la kol, boom, boom, boom! And he had…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2011.0,2026.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Whose Mi Adir was that?\n\nCONVISER: Well, it’s over there somewhere. Anyway, and he also had, I think, The Wedding March, in Hebrew — mi bontsiakh — something like that. And what he would do, he’d put out a lot of money to get somebody to make an arrangement for a full orchestra. You know, a little band, seven or eight pieces. And he guarded that like, as precious as can be. I happen to have it, because I have all his music. You know, when he passed away, I got all his stuff, and I filed it away. And I have it with my music, which is very extensive.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2026.0,2058.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: The choir sang M’hera?\n\nCONVISER: M’hera — oh, of course. Yeah. M’hera h…. And what would happen, we’d go to a wedding, if they had a full band, it was magnificent. And he felt like it was Toscanini. You know, he would be — my mother would say, that, “Er macht mit der hand,”\u003e like, like, like he was conducting a huge symphony orchestra.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2058.0,2075.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: So he had an orchestration…\n\nCONVISER: Yeah, we had…SEROTA: …for the choral music.\n\nCONVISER: …orches — I have it here. He had orchestrations for saxophone, trumpet, violin, drum, bass, and maybe a trombone or something. And, if they weren’t there, he would just use the piano part. See? And I always did the, but I also was a very famous vi malei guy, too. If you walked down the aisle, going, vi malei. And the choir, vi malei. And that was part of the, you know, I felt stupid when I walked down the aisle, you know. I’d walk down and I’d have my hands up, like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2075.0,2111.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Did you only do Vi Malei for your father, or you did it for other people, also?\n\nCONVISER: I did it for other people too. And I did “Oh, Promise Me” for other — mostly for other people.\n\nSEROTA: What did they pay you for Vi Malei?\n\nCONVISER: I don’t know if they paid me, because I never saw the money. And I pointed out in my book that I don’t know what happened, but after three or four “Oh, Promise Me’s”, I never found out if I got paid or not. You know, the money was supposed to go to my father, so I have no idea. I guess he did get paid, but he, he needed the money badly. He used to need money so badly that he would, he would sponsor concerts for a very, um, worthy cause, which was his own cause. You know, his cause was me. And he would call Jan Peerce, Regina Resnick, who is a dear, lifelong friend of mine. He got — Matusewitz was a famous — not a, not an accordionist, but the concertina. He was world-famous. And Jacob Ben-Ami, Lazar Fried. And he’d call together these people, who did it free of charge, and he can make tickets - collect tickets. And that’s what we lived on, once in a while, you see.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2111.0,2178.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Do you have any programs from such a concert?\n\nCONVISER: I wish I did.\n\nSEROTA: No?\n\nCONVISER: But they were, I have that in my book. The, the story about Regina. Regina came in and she said she’s going to sing Ave Maria in a shul. So, so the rabbi said, “You can’t sing Ave Maria.” So he told her, “Change it to Ave, Ave,” and that’s how she sang it. Ave, A…. We laugh every time we get together and talk about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2178.0,2206.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Did she have any Jewish repertoire to sing?\n\nCONVISER: Oh, yeah. Matter of fact, she came to my house and said that she was going — oh, incidentally, I heard that Barbra Streisand just put out a new album with, with Kol Nidre — with a, a Jewish, a Hebrew song. My wife told me that, yesterday. But…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2206.0,2222.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What sort of Jewish numbers did Regina Resnick sing?\n\nCONVISER: Well, she, she didn’t do any on her album, but she came to the house and she borrowed my Kol Nidre tape that I had made with my choir at Temple Beth Shalom. And she said she’s going to make an album of Hebrew songs, but she never did. Evidently, she left and went to Venice or something, with her husband.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2222.0,2244.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: But in her concert work, did you ever hear of her singing…\n\nCONVISER: Yes, yes. Another girl who, who is an opera singer, Evelyn Lear, whose grandfather was…\n\nSEROTA: Kwartin.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2244.0,2258.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Kwartin, yeah. She lives down here. And she’s a very good friend with Judy Drucker, who’s a lifelong, who was a very, very close friend of mine. And you know who Judy Drucker is? She’s the impresaria of this entire area, and brings down Pavarotti and every - everybody you can possibly think of. She’s in the paper today, with the concerts she does. But I’ve known her for, ever since I’ve been down, and we became very close. I, I had a quartet called the, the “Hebrew Arts Quartet,” which I formed with four people — Al, and another fellow who, who is a cantor — retired — from up in Westchester, and another guy. And we performed in Yonkers. And I have the program, where Evelyn sang some Yiddish songs. So she did songs there. Of course, Peerce did a lot of Yiddish songs too.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2258.0,2308.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Right.CONVISER: Lots of Yiddish songs.\n\nSEROTA: He recorded a lot of Jewish music.\n\nCONVISER: When we, when we would, when I would sit at the head table for the, waiting for the moment when I did my famous Hatikvah and Star-Spangled Banner, he would sit with me. And he had no qualms about waiting till midnight to sing. I could never do that. He’d sit through the whole evening. And finally, when everybody was, he would, they would say, “And now, Jan Peerce will sing…”, and he got up and did his concert, like — I could never understand. He also, I also had to help him many times to get up on the stage, because, later on in his life, his eyes were very bad. And — like Toscanini, which is another story. But that’s not Jewish. But I would help him in the, back at the Fontainebleau, for instance, to get up on the stage, to do his concerts there. Once, when I was a little boy — not a little boy, but a teenager in high school — my father said, “Why don’t you go, why don’t you go see Pinky?” My mother called him Pinkele. “Why don’t you go see Pinky” — Jan Peerce — “and ask him if he can get you a job?” I said, “I would love to get into the Radio City Music Hall Chorus.” That’s way before Robert Shaw. And so, I went. I had some music. I brought my accompanist, a kid from high school. And he looked at me and he said, “You have a very nice voice, and you sing very musically. But did you see the choir?” Six foot three, six foot four. So, I brashly said to him — I point that out in my book — I said to him, “Jan, look at you. I’m taller than you are.” He said, “Yeah, but I have elevator shoes. ”I said, “Well, that, what difference…”. “And beside,” he said, “I am the star.” So I ran out immediately and got some elevator shoes, and almost broke my legs once, running for a concert. Because it’s very difficult to walk on that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2308.0,2415.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: They say Toscanini conducted from memory because he didn’t want to wear glasses.\n\nCONVISER: Toscanini, Toscanini — you saw my candid shot of Toscanini, didn’t you?\n\nSEROTA: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2415.0,2424.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Toscanini was so remarkable that, that it’s incredible to just believe. He knew every word in every opera, every dynamic. He knew when it was pianissimo, when it wasn’t pianissimo. He knew everything. One day — and I point that out — he was rehearsing us. He loved us. He was a tyrant with the orchestra. But he loved us, the Robert - he says, “Robert Shaw, I finally found the guy that I’ve been looking for.” And he came in for a final run-through to something we were doing — maybe the Beethoven Ninth, or Missa solemnis or something — and he, he started to conduct us. And one of the girls in our Robert Shaw Chorale stupidly said, “That’s not right.” Incredible. So he stopped, and we all held our breath. The great Toscanini - no one talked like that to him. She said, “It’s a dotted eighth note.” So he went, he grabbed a book from somebody in the choir, and he went — because he used to look at it this way. He didn’t say a word. He just put the book down and he kept conducting. In the performance, he did it the correct way — which she was correct, but she never lived it down. She wanted to kill herself, you know. Terrible. But he was, he was, I remember once, he fell down. He fell off the podium near the end of his life, near the end. I was with him till the very end. And he, he, he began to, to falter. He never did, before. And he faltered, when he did the — you can buy, now, the Aida albums which we did, live, at NBC, at Studio 8-H. And he fell off the podium once, in rehearsal, and all the people ran to grab him. And he pushed them all aside, and he got back up, then he started to conduct. Once, about Jan Peerce — one of the orchestra people in the NBC Symphony made a disparaging remark about Jan during a break in rehearsal. And I never heard Jan turn on such a, a torrent of abuse to this guy. He called him every Yiddish curse word you could ever hear in your life. And the guy slunk away, like with the tail between his legs. It was awful. But Toscanini was one of the greatest…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2424.0,2551.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: It shows you that the people knew Yiddish curse words.\n\nCONVISER: That’s right. This guy was Jewish — the guy. I mean, most of them were. And he, he was just a remarkable guy to watch. He loved the choir. He treated us like an uncle. He was so sweet. One night, New Year’s Eve — Christmas Eve — Toscanini was ill. And he was up in his mansion up in upstate. So after we did this concert — we were doing a concert with a conductor who died in an airplane crash. He was a protégé of Toscanini. Oh, what was his name? Anyway, we piled into cars, went up to the mansion, and surprised him with Christmas carols on his staircase. And he came out like a little — he couldn’t believe what was going on. It was a great moment in Toscanini’s life, when we sang that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2551.0,2603.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Do you have any thoughts about any of the relatively well-known Jewish conductors in the field that you may have been in contact with? Let’s say Binder, or Freed, or…\n\nCONVISER: Yeah. Well, I have a lot of thoughts about — well, Freed. Freed liked me. The only thing he, he said to me that was objectionable, as far as — was, he says I take everything too fast. You know, I like to, I do too, now, too. I take a little bit faster than most conductors. But I like — because this is from the Robert Shaw days. I like to keep the thing going. Like, Sunday night, I did a concert with 15 cantors, at a temple up here. And I kept this going. We didn’t have too many rehearsals, but we did some wonderful pieces of music there. Az Moshiach Vet Kumen\u003e, which is a great number, by Janowski. And I did The Liederkranz, which is a, a potpourri of all the Yiddish songs, which is always a big favorite. And I did…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2603.0,2657.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: The Liederkranz was arranged by Leo Low.\n\nCONVISER: That’s right.\n\nSEROTA: Did you ever have any associations with Low?\n\nCONVISER: Yes, I did, at the — my mother was a singer, too. And she would join these choirs. Now, these people, like Low and Helfman and Newman, and others like that, would go around to, to augment their income — because they didn’t make much money — they would go and have choirs, Yiddish choirs, in all parts of, of New York. And we had a Yiddish choir in Coney Island, where we lived for a while. My parents lived there, and I, I grew up there, during the teenage years. And so, she, the, Low would come to these places, wherever we lived, and they would alternate. Like, Helfman would have a choir Monday nights, and, and Low would have one. And my mother always thought so highly of him — of his, the way his, his demeanor, his deportment, and his talent. I, I, I had a little bit to do with him, in the early days. I did a recording with him of Kol Ni… — I think it was, I forget what it was - some, some little recording. But I made this recording, Great Days We Honor, with the choir from the Hebrew Union College, because I was their director.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2657.0,2729.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Were you involved in selecting or arranging the music for that recording?\n\nCONVISER: The, the Great Days We Honor?\n\nSEROTA: Yeah, right.\n\nCONVISER: Yeah, I was involved. I was always involved. And Lazar Weiner — that’s the one I was thinking of. Lazar Weiner did part of that and a couple of albums. Who was the other one on the other side of my side?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2729.0,2746.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: I thought Freed conducted.\n\nCONVISER: Yeah. Freed was a wonderful guy. And we became very, very friendly with me, before he died. I was the music director at a camp in Massachusetts near Tanglewood called Shaker Village. And I’ve become quite an expert on Shaker lore because I lived amongst them. As a matter of fact, I have two original volumes which is now, one is up at that auction house in New York. Sothe, Sotheby’s. And the other one is at a, an expert on Shaker lore up in Connecticut, and I’m waiting to see what they’re worth. My wife sa-, my daughter says, “Get me a house.” You know? “What are they worth?” I saw an auction at Hancock of Shaker, with a little desk that went for $120,000. But if my books are authentic, they should be worth a lot, because they are the actual handwritten — exquisitely written — constitution of the Shakers with the signatures, 1840. It’s a wonderful book.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2746.0,2808.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Did you have any associations with Max Helfman?\n\nCONVISER: Max Helfman called me his favorite tenor. Does that answer your, does that answer your question? I had a lot of association with him. I took his place at the Brandeis Camp Institute in California. I was the music director there. And I saw all his original stuff in these cubby holes — his original notes of music for the holidays. And he, he was adored by Shlomo Bardin, who was the head of the, of the camp.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2808.0,2837.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What did you sing with him as tenor?\n\nCONVISER: With Helfman?\n\nSEROTA: Yeah.\n\nCONVISER: He had a choir. And one day, the, the actual, the fellow that was actually, when Joe Gross did this concert with me, in the audience was, uh, Ray Smolover, who was his soloist. Well, Ray was sick that day, so I was the soloist. And we went up to Boston, and Shlomo Bardin was sitting there. I didn’t know him at that time. When I got to camp, he said, “Ooh, Helfman.” Helfman was a god, to him. So that’s how I did solos. I also knew his daughter very well. She married Gary Graffman, who is the head of the Curtis, of Curtis Institute of Music, who also were old friends of mine.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2837.0,2884.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What sort of choral group did Helfman conduct?\n\nCONVISER: Helfman had, he had a, he had a Jewish choral group, but he also was pretty skillful in, in secular music, too. Because we did some stuff with him — I don’t remember — with Robert Shaw, where he was the director of music at some studio. I don’t remember what that was. But he did, if you see some of his books, that we did like la da dee da da da— Kineret, we did Ki Mitzion — ki mitzion teitzei Torah…. And we did wonderful things. And most of it was his own arrangements, you know. But I loved him.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2884.0,2923.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: What did you think of him as a conductor?\n\nCONVISER: I thought he was pretty good. Pretty, pretty good. But most of these conductors were not really, you know, what you would call conductors. They were, my mother would say, “Er macht mit der hand,” you know, they go ay, ya da daiya adir a la kol, you know. And the hands would go like that. It, there are a very few fine con-. Choral conductors are notoriously bad conductors, because they conduct every note. \u003cSINGS\u003e You are the one that I see — you know, instead of, instead of keeping…. They would never be able to hold an orchestra together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2923.0,2957.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: From the old-time synagogue conductors, did you have any associations with Shnepolitsky?\n\nCONVISER: No, I did not. My father did.\n\nSEROTA: Did you know him?\n\nCONVISER: No, I did not. I didn’t meet him. But I know very, I know about him. I have him in my files and … No.\n\nSEROTA: Did you ever do his music?\n\nCONVISER: Yes. Yes. I’ve done everybody’s music. I have drawers crammed full of music of all of the composers.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2957.0,2982.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: When you went to the School of Sacred Music, I imagine, as we mentioned before, you had association with both Morris and Jack Barash.\n\nCONVISER: Yes, I did. Very slow — very close.\n\nSEROTA: So you must have done a lot of music that Morris wrote…\n\nCONVISER: Yes, I did. Yes, I did.\n\nSEROTA: …and Jack composed, arranged.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2982.0,2995.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Yes, I did a lot of Morris’ music. As a matter of fact, Morris was a director in, in, in synagogue, in synagogues. And he also did weddings. Matter of fact, I think I did a couple of weddings with him. He called me up to help him with “Oh Promise Me”, and also, in his choir. A lovely guy, Morris. And Jack, Jack went with me to Israel every time. We went four times to the Zimriya, and he was our standard conduct - accompanist, for the Cantors Choir that I conducted.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=2995.0,3021.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: When Morris did a wedding, did he do the same kind of music that you did with your father?\n\nCONVISER: Yeah. Mostly. But then, he had some other stuff that he’d arranged. Yeah.\n\nSEROTA: The same Ma Tovu.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3021.0,3031.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Yeah. No, he had his own Ma Tovu. He had his own Ma Tovu that he had written, which I’ve done, with — I was conducting a choir up in Temple Sinai, and I did one of his Ma Tovus in there. But Jack is a big loss to us, because he was, he could play for any cantor. Now, there aren’t any, there aren’t any people around that can really maneuver the piano part for these hazzanim down here, like Joe, and people like that - Because they cannot improvise. They can play if the music is written. Well, they play a chord here, a chord. He was, he was the best. I mean, as I read in the little thing about him, there isn’t a cantor, a great cantor you can think of that, that he didn’t accompany, on the recordings. Because if you look at the recordings of these great cantors, he is there all the time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3031.0,3084.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Did you have any associations with Abraham Ellstein?\n\nCONVISER: I did one program with him. A recording. But my father knew him. And he knew Sholom Secunda very well, too.\n\nSEROTA: What kind of program did you do with Ellstein?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3084.0,3095.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"CONVISER: Avinu Malkeinu stands out. Avinu Malkeinu… It was an arrangement. I don’t know what the program was. There were so many that I did, you know. I was a, there were, when people would need somebody, they would call me up. And, and… But they had a list — the Robert Shaw — they had a list, uh, the manager at Robert Shaw would have a list of maybe fifty singers. And whenever an album came along, he would call up the people, he would call me up and say, “Get your book out.” I loved that. “Get your book out.” He’d say, “Thursday, four to six, at RCA. Friday, so-and-so. Recording at so-and-so.” Or concert. So, I had a very wonderful musical life. But it was really — that’s why I put it all into my book - Because, because the, a lot of people do not know about these things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3095.0,3140.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Well, I’ll have to get a copy of the book, and then…\n\nCONVISER: I’ll send it to you. A quarter of the, quarter, the first quarter is about Jewish music, and the cantors. I have pictures of every cantor, as I showed you. And I’ve got — the first quarter tells these anecdotes about Peerce, and about Aryeh Leib Rutman, who was a, was a well-known cantor. He came to the house for a rehearsal. And I make this little story, because it’s cute. My mother says that he asked for a glass of water. And she inadvertently turned on the hot water and gave him hot water. And he, and she thought that he was going to commit suicide. She always told that story — that he went so crazy. She says he, “He went meshugga. ‘Hot water, hot water.’” And he was just frantic. A lot of stories like that. They all came to my house. And, uh, it’s like in Hollywood. The Hollywood kids don’t really know anything else. The famous star comes in for a cup of coffee, they don’t even look at them. This is a famous movie star, up on a screen. And I had no idea who these people were. All these great cantors - in a lesser way. They weren’t known worldwide. But I, there were groupies. You know, there were plenty of groupies that used to run after the hazzanim. They’d come from all over, just to hear Hershman here or Kapov-Kagan here. And they’d sit there and they’d go from shul to shul, and they would applaud and they’d, they’d give you all that tsk, tsk, tsk. Oy, oy. But one of the favorite words of my father was a menaggin. Somebody who really — he would have two words — a drong and a menaggin. He was a…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3140.0,3236.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Which hazzanim could he describe as being a menaggin?\n\nCONVISER: He, I don’t remember which ones he described. I’d have to give it some thought. But some of them he did tell me were very, very musically inclined, and they, and they were able to hear and — but, and many of them I worked, some of them I worked with were really drongs. I mean, they were really terrible.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3236.0,3256.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Is there anyone who, you would say, stood out in your mind as being particularly outstanding?\n\nCONVISER: Uh, no, can’t think of it. I have to, I have to go…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3256.0,3270.0"},{"id":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832/transcript/63375/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"SEROTA: Anyway, we thank you very much for your participation in our project. [INAUDIBLE]\n\nCONVISER: Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://milken.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1159/collection_resources/39437/file/110832#t=3270.0,3291.904"}]}]}]}