Musical Homecoming

During her concert at the Rimon Center for Jewish Learning on Aug. 14, violinist Diana Tsaliovich will share two different types of music. During the first half of the hour-long performance the violinist, accompanied by pianist Andrew Sun, will perform classical pieces by Cesar Franck, Mozart, Sergei Prokofiev and George Bizet.

Then, the second half of the program will become something of a family affair. Tsaliovich will perform Klezmer music with her sister, Olga Burke taking over piano duties. “We’ve been playing together since we were little, so she’s accompanying me for the second half,” Tsaliovich says.

Then for the final few numbers, the sisters will be joined by their father.

“It’s become part of the tradition,” Tsaliovich says. “He didn’t sing at my first recital (at Rimon) but starting with the second recital, I’ve always invited him toward the end to sing a couple of songs and then for the last, we try to sing a song that everyone can sing along to.”

This combination of classical and Klezmer has made Tsaliovich’s annual appearance a tradition for the Rimon Center, which offers classes in Jewish arts and education. Tsaliovich’s first concert at Rimon, in 2004, was the first program presented by the center.
Rimon founder Livia Mezrich says the concerts got their start when she met Tsaliovich’s father, Anatoly Tsaliovich and he told her he had a daughter who played violin.

“When fathers come over to you and say, My daughter plays violin, you go ‘OK uh huh,’” Mezrich says of that meeting. But she went to Anatoly’s house and saw some information about Diana, including a magazine for Fulbright scholarship winners with her picture on the cover.
 
“And I said, ‘Oh she must be talented.’” Mezrich says. “And then I read her resume and said, ‘She’s beyond talented.’ And she is. It’s more than she’s just talented, some people are talented and they’re a little standoffish. But when she runs a concert, she does a running commentary and people connect to her. She’s so friendly and so warm and so outgoing. It’s a wonderful event and people come year after year.”

Tsaliovich was born in Russia under the Soviet Union. When she was around 4, her mother gave her some piano lessons, but she switched to violin. “My sister already played piano and I didn’t want to do exactly the same thing,” she says. “And I loved the sound of the violin, when I was 4 years old or 3 years old, it sounded like silver to me.”
 
That early introduction to music didn’t translate to childhood dreams of becoming a professional musician. She got into Rutgers with a scholarship in the music program with the intention of switching to the English department after a few semesters.
 
“During my freshman, or maybe my sophomore year, I saw that I was kind of mediocre at the English thing and that I really love music,” she says.

Her career has included working with the Finnish National Opera. She lives in Israel and is a member of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and also teaches.

“It’s not easy,” she says of being a professional musician. “I have students who come up to me and say they want to be musicians. I don’t necessarily encourage them. I don’t discourage them either but I try to tell them like it is, that it’s not an easy career for many, many reasons.”

Tsaliovich grew up in East Brunswick and her parents later moved to West Windsor. She comes back to New Jersey when she can to visit her family and to perform her annual concert at Rimon.

“It’s such a wonderful event,” Mezrich says. “We tell everybody, ‘If you like to go to Tanglewood, come to this concert.’ Because it’s on the same level.”

Diana Tsaliovich will perform a concert at the Rimon Center for Jewish Learning, 483 Dutch Neck Rd. in East Windsor on Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. For tickets, call (609) 918-9750 or e-mail info@rimoncenter.org.