The Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic was created by Founder-Conductor Gary S. Greene, Esq. to bring the legal community together. The orchestra held its first rehearsal on January 19, 2009, with 30 legal musicians and Maestro Greene on the podium. They performed their debut concert 11 days later. Since then, the orchestra has grown to 75 members.
Proclaimed by the City of Los Angeles as “LA’s Only Legal Orchestra,” the LA Lawyers Phil is where lawyers, judges, law students and legal staff meet in harmony. The members include conservatory graduates, professional musicians and some hobbyists who are dusting off instruments they played in their youth. It is the music that prevails. The orchestra has performed more than 40 concerts, raising thousands of dollars to benefit those who cannot afford legal services and for other charitable causes. The LA Lawyers Phil performs on a professional level in major concert venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Saban Theatre, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Greystone Mansion and the Shrine Auditorium.
Gary S. Greene, Esq., — an attorney for more than 40 years, a violinist and conductor — is the Music Director of the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic, Legal Voices and Gary Greene, Esq. and His Big Band of Barristers. He earned his BA summa cum laude from UCLA, and he was awarded membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He received his JD from Loyola Law School. He is the founder-conductor of the LA Lawyers Philharmonic and its chorus, Legal Voices. He is also the founder and bandleader of the Big Band of Barristers. Also, Greene has served as concertmaster and conductor of the Jr. Philharmonic, the acclaimed young people’s symphony orchestra founded in 1937 by his late uncle, Dr. Ernst Katz.
Greene has led the LA Lawyers Philharmonic, Legal Voices and the Jr. Phil in most major classical works and has conducted popular pieces for legendary performers including Edward Asner, Jordan Bennett, Debby Boone, Pat Boone, Richard Chamberlain, Kevin Early, Robert Goulet, Peter Graves, Florence Henderson, Carol Lawrence, June Lockhart, Brock Peters, Stefanie Powers, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Sha Na Na, Dick Van Dyke and Michael York.
Maestro Greene was named the 2010 Person of the Year by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise for not only entertaining the legal community but also for having done much to unify it. He was recognized as “A Man with a Briefcase and a Baton — the Only Lawyer from Whom Judges Take Direction.” In 2012, Greene was presented with the prestigious Board of Governors Award from the Beverly Hills Bar Association.
