Josh Bell & Friends at Home in Los Angeles

Joshua Bell and Hollywood artists gather for an evening benefiting LA kids.

Beverly Hills, CA (August 10, 2011) On the eve of two highly anticipated concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, Grammy-award winning violinist Joshua Bell made an appearance at a smaller venue for a very lofty cause – the state of music education in Los Angeles schools.

On August 8, 125 guests of top industry leaders joined Mr. Bell, hosts Lola and John Debney, and Education Through Music-Los Angeles (ETM-LA) for an evening salon at the Beverly Hills home of Alecia and Randy Spendlove, President of Motion Picture Music at Paramount Pictures. The exclusive event began with wine provided by Far Niente and hors d’oeuvres by Olive & Thyme (Toluca Lake) on the patio, and culminated in the living room with a welcome from A-List Film Composer, John Debney (Iron Man 2, Passion of the Christ) and his wife, Lola, who sits on the Board of Directors for ETM-LA.  They shared the organization’s mission and goal for the event – to raise awareness and support music education in Los Angeles schools, including one of ETM-LA’s newest partner schools, Foster Elementary in the Compton Unified School District.  Joyful performances by a small handful of some of Hollywood’s leading artists kicked off the concert, including vocalist Lisbeth Scott, pianist Randy Kerber, and John Debney performing some of his scores to Dreamers and Evan Almighty.

Bell concluded the evening with a charming story about a recent visit to an ETM-LA school in Chinatown and about his role as Advisory Board member of Education Through Music.  “I notice a big difference walking into a school that has a music program versus one that doesn’t, in the children’s self-esteem and how they work together.  Music helps the children on so many different levels,” Bell shared.   He then electrified the room with two selections, a violin arrangement of Frederic Chopin’s Piano Nocturne in C Sharp Minor and Henri Weiniawski’s Polonaise Brillante No. 1 in D Major, accompanied on the piano by the LA Philharmonic’s Joanne Pearce Martin.

Proceeds will benefit ETM-LA’s music programs in inner-city Los Angeles elementary schools. Founded in Los Angeles in the Fall of 2006, Education Through Music–Los Angeles (ETM-LA, Inc.) is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to provide music education to disadvantaged schools as part of the core curriculum in order to enhance students’ academic performance and creative and general development. Education Through Music-Los Angeles forms long-term partnerships with elementary and middle schools which lack the resources for school-wide music instruction, and is based on the proven ETM® model that began in New York City in 1991. Through the sustainable integration of music into the curricula of schools, Education Through Music–Los Angeles supports school reform and works to ensure all children receive equal opportunities for a brighter future. www.etmla.org

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