Class Notes
1950s 1951
Israel Avnion (known as Samuel Feinstein while at Oberlin) is 95 and shares that he’s thrilled to be still playing multiple musical instruments for the regular days and Jewish holy days at his senior citizens home in Tiv’on, Israel, a charming garden community halfway between Haifa and Nazareth. If asked, he’ll also teach alums (including Josh Shuman ’86) the official Oberlin College song. 38
“My Oberlin banner and doll ornament are still in my apartment, but my claim to fame was being in the same conservatory class with composer John Kander of Cabaret fame,” he says. “Aside from chamber music playing, my unforgettable music experience was singing in the Oberlin a cappella choir. I’m still a basso profundo ready to sing ‘Ol’ Man River’ at the drop of a hat.” Avnion notes that, in the summer of 1954, he studied viola in Aspen with the famous William Primrose and, by an amazing stroke of good luck, also played bass violin with the festival orchestra—“a
godsend to pay for my room and board.” After a 1953 pilot visit to Israel, he returned to live there in 1958 after meeting his Dutch wife, Esther, a Holocaust survivor. In 1961, the couple moved from Jerusalem to Tiv’on. “Decades later, Esther’s multiple myeloma created an unexpected crisis, for we decided to move to a senior citizens home, but we enjoyed a happy marriage of 54 years until she died over a decade ago. We’ve been blessed with three children and nine grandchildren who are themselves providing great-grandchildren.” Although his musical programs forced
P H OTO CO U R T E S Y O F O B E R L I N CO L L EG E A R C H I V E S
BOTTOMS UP: For decades, Homecoming at Oberlin included an annual dorm-decorating contest, with the winner announced at halftime of the football game. No word on the winning dorm in 1943, but the residents of Gray Gables raised a glass to downing Wooster. It worked: Oberlin won 46-0.