June 9, 2016

Los Angeles Lawyers Make Music for a Cause

On Saturday, June 18, the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic & Legal Voices will honor legendary songwriter Richard M. Sherman at the 7th Annual Disney Hall Concert Extraordinaire, with a percentage of the proceeds benefiting local legal aid efforts. Led by founder-conductor Gary S. Greene, Esq., the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic (LALP) is made up of an orchestra, chorus (Legal Voices) and band (Gary Greene & His Big Band of Barristers). Several members of the Southwestern community are involved with these groups, which perform approximately ten times each year.

“The Legal Voices is a wonderful group of amazing and talented members of the legal community,” said Nydia Duenez, Dean of Students and Diversity Affairs at Southwestern, and a member of the chorus. “It is an absolute pleasure to build new friendships and perform with lawyers, judges and law students from the Los Angeles area.”

At the June 18 performance, Tony Award winner and SCALE alumnus Michael Maguire ‘08 and current SCALE II student Julie Pajuheshfar will be featured soloists. Other members of the Southwestern community who have recently participated in the orchestra or chorus include: Evynn Davis ’13, Stephanie Gordon ’03, William Laffan ’76, Adjunct Professor Jack Lipton, Sylvia Moore ’05, Hon. Deborah Myers-Cregar ’85, Deanna Newell ’97, Jody Klipple ’11, Anita Olp ’90, Julie Pajuheshfar ’17, Shannon Sexton ’12, Bahar Sodaify ’12, Sheila Viswanathan ’88 and Hon. Stuart Waxman ’85.

The concert will feature the Sherman Brothers’ memorable Disney music as well as works by composers Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, including selections from Candide, Appalachian Spring, Rodeo and the Grand Canyon Suite. In addition to Maguire, among the soloists will be Tony Award winner Anthony Crivello performing “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book, Hon. Steven Z. Perren of the California Court of Appeal performing the baritone solo in “River Song” from Tom Sawyer, and Hon. Curtis A. Kin of the Los Angeles Superior Court as a soloist in “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from Mary Poppins. The grand finale will be a sensational arrangement of It’s A Small World conducted by special guest Richard M. Sherman. KFI radio personality Bill Handel will serve as Master of Ceremonies, and Jim Raycroft is the choral director.

The LALP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that performs concerts to raise funds for many charitable causes, including the LA County Bar Counsel for Justice and the Beverly Hills Bar Association Foundation (providing legal aid services), the American Diabetes Association, City of Hope, Ascencia Services for the Homeless, Wounded Warriors Project, Westwood Transitional Village, Bessie Pregerson Child Development Center, Inner City Law Center, World AIDS Day and more.

For more information and tickets, visit  www.LALawyersPhil.org.