Photo Flash: LA Music Center Honors Hal David

Paul Williams took center stage in the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel on Sunday, January 30th to praise the career of friend and colleague, Hal David.  Singing snippets of Hal's hits like "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," "Close To You," "Walk On By" and many more, Williams declared "If we tried to cover all of his work, we would have to continue this tribute tomorrow night."  An Honorary Committee that consisted of entertainment industry elite such as Charles Fox, Burt Bacharach, Michele Lee, Carl Reiner, and many more made the Music Center and Club 100's annual "Magic Moments" gala THE place to be in Los Angeles on Sunday.    Though many were on hand to praise Mr. David and his career, the patrons seemed to revolve around two primary tables.  That of Mr. David himself, which included the evenings host, Paul Williams and Sally Kellerman (Who would later treat the audience to a selection of Mr David's songs from the stage) and table 10, hosted by noted cabaret singer Barbra Van Orden, which included Tippi Hedren, Florence Henderson, Robert David Hall, and Gary Austin.  "I had to be here tonight, if only to personally express my appreciation to Mr. David for his music and how much it has meant to me," said Ms. Hedren.  Ms. Henderson added, "I thought I had a good idea about Hal's body of work when I arrived tonight, but as the evening progressed, I caught myself saying, 'He wrote that ... and that as well?' ... It's amazing to think how many great pieces of music he has given us."

Club 100 has been a support organization for the Music Center's Art Education and family programming since 1976.  The organization is comprised of dynamic professional and civic minded women, whose goals are to build awareness of the importance of arts education in public schools, fundraise for the Music Center's Artists Teacher Partnership (ATP) program and support the annual BRAVO Awards.  The Music Center's Artist Teacher Partnership program brings professional teaching artists into the classroom to engage students in dance, music, theatre and the visual arts.  Each partnership incorporates grade-level arts standards and complements curricula goals with sequential workshops.  The process allows students to benefit from am in-depth study of an art discipline and the opportunity to actively participate in the arts.  "There has been a surge of organizations in CA including ATP, A World Fit For Kids, The Manilow Music Organization and, of course, the national success of the Dr. Channing/Kullijian Arts Foundation that have been helping American's realize how important the arts are to a complete and balanced education," Says Barbara Van Orden

Photo Credits: Bill Dow