Orchestra Basks in Affection

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and UCLA’s business school made beautiful music together Saturday night.

The occasion was the black-tie dinner after the orchestra’s season-opening concert at Royce Hall. It was an affair that brought together the First Chair Society, the orchestra’s major financial supporters, with board members from the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.

“The thought was for the orchestra to widen its circle of friends,” said dinner co-chair Douglas Brengel of the investment bankers Salomon Brothers, Inc., the dinner underwriters.

“It’s a way for different people to meet each other,” co-chair Jennifer Diener said.

The 150 guests met outside for a buffet supper on the hall’s Ahmanson Terrace under enough heat lamps to accelerate global warming.

“First I was worried about rain,” said Diener. “Then I was worried about the cold.”

Considering the depth of support the orchestra has, there was little reason for worry. The dinner could have been held in a downpour on a glacier and the classical music devotees would have come.

“There’s a real sense of involvement here,” said the orchestra’s executive director, Deborah Rutter. “As an example, our board members know most of the musicians. This really means something to the artists. It nurtures their souls to know the supporters, to feel that they’re not just employees walking in and out of the back door.”

Among those on hand for the buffet catered by Ambrosia were conductor John Nelson and violin soloist Joseph Swenson, along with the other dinner co-chairs John and Marion Anderson and J. Clayburn and Barbara La Force. Guests included Barbara Bain, Walter and Peggy Parker Grauman, John and Hanna Kennedy, and Edward and Hannah Carter.

It was the kind of intimate evening that most large organizations overlook. It had a warmth that came--aside from the ubiquitous heat lamps--from the group’s affection for the orchestra.

“These people really love music,” said orchestra board president David Gersh. “And there’s something about loving something in common that makes people have fun.”