Lawyers Orchestra Forming for January Debut

Attorneys who are advanced musicians with orchestral experience are invited to apply.

The formation of the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic Orchestra is underway with attorney-conductor Gary S. Greene preparing to wield the baton at its premier performance on January 30, 2009 at the Metropolitan News-Enterprise’s Person of the Year dinner.

Greene, an attorney for 33 years and conductor of the Junior Philharmonic Orchestra of California—succeeding his uncle, Ernst Katz, 94, who founded it in 1937—told the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, “I am excited about the proposition of founding and conducting an orchestra composed of judges and lawyers. We truly will be creating harmony in our society.”

Greene plans to develop a full-sized, nonprofit symphony orchestra “within a year.” Performing briefly at the Person of the Year dinner—which honors Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge Charles McCoy and Assistant Presiding Judge Lee Edmon this year—will be an initial group of about 20 to 30 musicians, with instrumentation possibly consisting of a piano, four violins, two violas, two cellos, two string basses, two flutes, one oboe, two clarinets, one bassoon, two alto saxes, two trumpets, two trombones, one tuba, and two percussion instruments.

Greene stressed that only advanced musicians with orchestral experience should apply. The orchestra is accepting applications by e-mail at gary@lalawyersphil.org.