Santa was good to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra last year with a hefty stocking stuffer from Terri and Jerry Kohl. Their $1 million challenge gift is the largest in the organization’s history.
The challenge grant, given with a request for a matching gift, has already been met by two anonymous donations, totaling an additional $1 million.
The orchestra says the $2 million will establish the Cornerstone Campaign, a major gifts and endowment initiative.
LACO was founded in 1968 and is guided by music director Jeffrey Kahane. The ensemble delights crowds performing in locations across Southern California, from Glendale to downtown to the beach areas. Kohl acknowledged the economic realities that face the arts, saying that LACO has had to make “considerable sacrifices” in recent years in order to maintain its fiscal standing.
“We chose to make this gift because we don’t want the orchestra to ever compromise its artistic programming, even in difficult economic times,” Kohl said. “We want to make sure they don’t have to cut back any more.”
Bravo!
Oscar windfall
The new Bond flick “Skyfall” may not pull in the awards bonanza that some were predicting, but the popular 007 series will be honored at this year’s Academy Awards no matter what.
The upcoming worldwide telecast will include a one-of-a-kind tribute honoring the suave shaken-not-stirred secret agent.
Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neal Meron announced a surprise, saying viewers can expect “a special sequence saluting Bond films on their 50th birthday.”
The spy flick earned great reviews and grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, a first for this engaging franchise.
As high as the sky
Awards season is full of trivia and has seen many giants, but some rate more on just stature alone.
Trivia buffs know that the average height of their Academy Award-winning leading men ranges between 5 feet, 10 inches and six feet. The tallest on the list? The Duke, measuring up to 6-foot-4-inches. The shortest? Local Dustin Hoffman, who is 5-foot-5. Dustin isn’t just an Academy Award-winner, as he recently received the Kennedy Awards Honor for a lifetime of cultural input. And that’s the long and short of it!