Zina Schiff

Unlikely as it might seem, relatively few of Jascha Heifetz's students ever found their way to the mainstream concert pool; there are some real gems among these former students, however, and virtuoso Zina Schiff is one of them. Though Schiff's name has never been well-known (owing mostly to a reserved recording catalog), her sweet tone and vigorous interpretations have been welcome wherever she has traveled. Schiff has long championed the works of Jewish composers as well as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers," William Grant Still. She has also established a fruitful and ongoing partnerships with her daughters, issuing a recording of music by Still with her daughter, conductor and violinist Avlana Eisenberg, in 2022. Schiff was born in Los Angeles in 1951. Her sister, Eileen Wingard, also a violinist as well as a music journalist, gave Schiff her first lessons. Among her early musical endeavors, she was a member of the Peter Meremblum California Junior Symphony, where she had the opportunity to meet William Grant Still during rehearsals. Schiff studied with Heifetz for six years before moving on to studies with the famed pedagogue Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute of Music. Later, she took a master's degree in liberal arts from Louisiana State University. Schiff first came to national attention when she was featured as a soloist on Maurice Jarre's soundtrack to the 1968 film The Fixers -- the first, but not the last, time she would put her name on a project exploring Jewish themes. As an undergraduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, she was chosen as one of the "Top Ten College Women" in Glamour magazine; Avlana would later join her in this honor. Schiff also added a Master of Jewish Studies degree from the Spertus Institute to her résumé. Schiff has two daughters with husband Ron Eisenberg, a noted radiologist and author. Cherina Eisenberg is a pianist, educator, and Rabbi, while Avlana Eisenberg is a violinist, conductor, and lawyer. Schiff gave Avlana her first lessons when she was three, and she spent her youth traveling with her mother as she performed. Schiff has performed with both of her daughters, including recording Jacob Weinberg's Berceuse Palestinniene with Cherina for the funeral of Zina's mother, Rose Schiff. Among Zina's recordings is a 1996 4-Tay recording of Jewish music titled King David's Lyre, which featured Cherina on a bonus track. Schiff has also enjoyed collaborations with pianists Lois Brandwynne and Cameron Grant, with whom she has made several recordings, including Elijah's Violin in 2005. As Avlana's career focused almost exclusively on conducting, mother and daughter have collaborated increasingly often, leading to a 2013 MSR Classics recording with the MAV Symphony Orchestra of the violin concertos by Sibelius and Barber that also featured the world premiere recording of Paul Ben-Haim's Three Songs without Words. Schiff, once more joined by Grant, issued an album of violin sonatas by Eric Zeisl and Aaron Copland, among others, in 2014 and an album of works for violin and piano by Franck, Bloch, and Julien Krein in 2015. In 2022, Schiff was heard on the album William Grant Still: Summerland, with Avlana conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
© Keith Finke & Blair Johnston /TiVo