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Updated Sept 18th, 2008
Famed Conductor Williams
Headlines Orchestra Gala
Gala honoree James F. McNulty and film music master John
Williams
Not everyone can have
Hollywood’s greatest living composer
provide music at a gala in their honor,
but that’s what happened when The
Orchestras of Pasadena honored
James F. McNulty, chairman of
Parsons Corporation, last Saturday
evening.
“John Williams Conducts John
Williams” featured the legendary figure
conducting The Orchestras of
Pasadena in a concert of his own
“Music That Made the Movies.” It
was the centerpiece of a sparkling
evening at the beautiful Ambassador
Auditorium in Pasadena.
Attendees enjoyed champagne
and hors d’oeuvres on the
Ambassador Plaza that was accented
by huge white fabric balloons floating
in reflecting pools before the concert
began. As a nod to Williams’ longtime
association with the “Star Wars” film
saga, white-armored Storm Troopers
guarded Ambassador’s entrances.
More than 400 students from
Pasadena Unified School District, Los
Angeles Unified School District, and
those participating in The Orchestras’
Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra
and Side By Side music education
programs attended the concert along
with their parents. Some of these students
traveled from San Diego
County to participate in the gala.
The night honored McNulty, who
has served as Parsons’ chairman of the
board since 1998 following his being
named CEO in 1996. In addition to
his responsibilities at Parsons,
McNulty is a longtime supporter of
the Pasadena Pops, the American
Heart Association, the American
Cancer Society, United Way and
numerous Pasadena and Los Angeles
civic and philanthropic activities. He
is also a trustee of The Linsly School,
his high school alma mater in
Wheeling, W.Va., and is a member of
the boards of directors of the Greater
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce,
the California Science Center and the
Los Angeles Sports Council. He is the
past chairman of Town Hall Los
Angeles and previous member of the
board of trustees of Pomona College.
McNulty’s accomplishments
were noted in an onstage tribute
before the concert when Rachael Worby, music director of the
Pasadena Pops, introduced
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.),
who presented the guest of honor with
framed remarks Schiff had made
about McNulty on the floor of the
House of Representatives that are now
part of the Congressional Record.
Following the McNulty tribute,
TV producer Norman Lear (“All in
the Family,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons”) joined Worby onstage to
accept $62,000 in on-the-spot donations
by concertgoers, led by The
Orchestras board member Jerry Kohl
($20,000) and his daughter Karyn
($10,000), along with $10,000 from
Linda and Stuart Resnick and $10,000
from Arthur Benjamin, member of
The Orchestras advisory board. Funds
raised will go to the Orchestras of
Pasadena and its education programs.
Lear, a longtime friend, also introduced
John Williams with his characteristic
charm and humor.
The concert was a rare opportunity
to hear a master composer conduct
his own works that will surely
become classics for future generations.
Williams, 76, conducted with
vigor and nuance to pull out top performances
of “Bugler’s
Dream/Olympic Fanfare and Theme”
(from the 1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles); excerpts from “Close
Encounters of the Third Kind”; three
pieces from “Harry Potter”:
“Hedwig’s Theme,” “Nimbus 2000”
and “Harry’s Wondrous World”;
“Sayuri’s Theme” from “Memoirs of
a Geisha”; two pieces from “Indiana
Jones”: “The Adventures of Mutt” and
“Raiders March”; the moving theme
from “Schindler’s List” with a breathtaking
performance by Aimee Kreston, concertmaster of the
Orchestras of Pasadena; and
“Adventures on Earth” from “E.T. The
Extra-Terrestrial.” The encore featuring
the rarely heard “Miriam’s
Theme” from “Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and, of
course, a rousing selection from “Star
Wars” to close the concert with the
last of five standing ovations as the
audience called for even more.
Following the concert, more than
250 invited guests attended dinner
held on the Ambassador Plaza. The
dinner, was presented by the Smith
Brothers Restaurant Group and
Parkway Grill.
The gala concert, benefitting The
Orchestras of Pasadena, was sponsored
by Parsons Corporation, Unified
Grocers, Rusnak, Rolls Royce,
Tiffany & Co., Wells Fargo Bank,
Forest Glen Wines, Del Rey
Marketing, Utility Trailers, the
Capital Group Companies, Ernst &
Young, The Henry Wine Group, the
Smith Brothers Restaurant Corporation, Arroyo Chop House,
Crocodile Cafe, Parkway Grill,
Smitty’s Grill, Vibrato Grill and
Trader Joe’s.
Donors and attendees from La
Cañada Flintridge included Ralph Cimmarusti, Mr. and Mrs. John L.
Dawson, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Gilson,
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Leddy,
Nishan Partamian, Mr. and Mrs. Eric
Rodli, Dr. Jeannine Scheinhorn,
Randal S. Vallen and Mrs. Juli Barry,
Mr. and Mrs. Brent Whitfield, Mr.
and Mrs. Phil Wyatt, Mr. and Mrs.
David Dedlow, Mr. and Mrs. Gil
McCoy, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Miles, Mr.
and Ms. Reid Samuelson, and Mr.
and Mrs. Warren L. Martin.
For information regarding the
upcoming 2008-09 concert season by
the Pasadena Symphony and the
Pasadena Pops at the Pasadena Civic
Auditorium, call (626) 793-7172 or
visit www.theorchestras.org.
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