March 28, 1930
From the story “Yehudi Menuhin, Violinist, to Appear at Civic Auditorium” about a local violin prodigy
San Francisco music lovers will have an opportunity of greeting Yehudi Menuhin Monday night when he gives his single concert in this city at the Civic Auditorium. Yehudi is a genius of the violin and has been acclaimed by two continents as a great virtuoso despite his youth.
Yehudi comes back after a triumphant season and a long series of successes in the important capitals of Europe, following a transcontinental American tour, during which once each week he has appeared before untold thousands in the larger of the American cities from coast to coast …
Young Menuhin promises a genuine treat for music lovers at this concert as he has consented to play a Bach concerto in G major, which will be given here for the first time. This work was recently unearthed by Yehudi’s teacher, Adolf Busch, in Basil, Switzerland. It has been specially arranged by this famous artist and pedagogue. In addition, the violinist will play, for the first time here, the Cesar Franck Sonata in A major for violin and piano, a work which critics have pronounced most thrilling in the hands of the young San Francisco genius.
The Menuhin concert will be his only recital appearance this year, and will be the closing event of the Selby C. Oppenheimer season.
March 31, 2000
From the story “Berkeley tennis team battles slur by wearing Kippot”
Varsity boys tennis players as Berkeley High School expect to face hard-to-return serves.
But they don’t expect to face the anti-Jewish slurs they were bombarded with last week.
In a match played March 22, two Arabic [sic] brothers from Pleasanton’s Amador Valley High reportedly expressed sour grapes after losing a doubles match to Berkeley.
Their acidic words included what sounded like an anti-Jewish comment, although it wasn’t clear whether the term “Jew” or “jerk” was used.
Since the teams were going to confront one another again the following day for a make-up match, the Berkeley team mulled over an appropriate show of solidarity for its Jewish players.
The entire team showed up sporting Kippot.
“On one hand, we felt like we should file a complaint with the school,” said Andy Hanauer, 17, a senior. “But then we felt like this was a better way to make our point. I even brought some stale matzah to give everyone moral support.”
It was no love match.
Hanauer said they were met with an even more vociferous reaction, including charges of “Hitler! Hitler!”
When one Berkeley High player struck the ball, an Amador Valley player jeered, “Play your dreidel,” Hanauer said.
The original comment came from two brothers on the Amador Valley team, Berkeley players claim. However, Amador’s non-Jewish white players joined the chorus at the onset of the next day’s match, they said.
“It’s not unusual to get a hostile reaction,” Hanauer said. “We win a lot. Plus the league we play in includes a lot of valley schools” from Danville, Pleasanton and cities nearby. “There’s a real cultural difference between us and them.”
No one at Berkeley High seemed to be interested in following up the incident with a dialogue with Amador Valley High. The two teams will not face each other for the remainder of the season.
Amador Valley High officials did not return calls by press time.
