VOICE RISES ABOVE DISORDER CALIFORNIA
Although she cannot read music and has trouble with simple everyday tasks, 48-year-old Gloria Lenhoff can play the accordion and sing with a perfect pitch in 30 languages. Lenhoff has Williams syndrome, a rare genetic condition that produces physical and cognitive abnormalities and an aptitude for music. The disorder is caused by the loss of a tiny piece of a chromosome and occurs in one out of 20,000 births.
A lyric soprano, Lenhoff has a repertoire of more than 2,000 pieces, from genres including popular, religious, folk, classical and opera. A resident of the Baddour Memorial Center in Senatoba, Miss., Lenhoff serves as visiting cantor to Temple B’nai Israel in Tupelo, Miss.
Lenhoff is the featured soloist at this month’s “Pop Go the Arts 2003!” concert, a benefit for St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center of San Diego, which strives to enrich the lives of developmentally disabled adults by training them in the arts. She sings operatic arias by Mozart, Puccini and Verdi; two songs from “Gigi,” including a duet with maestro Martin Wright, and a Santuzza solo from “Cavalleria Rusticana.”
The Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra, led by Israeli-born conductor David Amos, is also in the lineup, along with the San Diego Master Chorale, directed by baritone Martin Wright.
Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B Street, San Diego; June 29, 3 p.m.; $20, $35 and $50. (619-235-0804 or www.ticketmaster.com.)
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 4
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Cardinals are Catholic not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
-
Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
-
Fast Forward Germany formally classifies far-right AfD party as extremist, in blow to Nazi-linked populist movement
-
Fast Forward Trump taps shock jock Sid Rosenberg and a Haredi newspaper publisher for Holocaust Memorial Council
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.