The timeless music from Disney film classics underscored the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) annual Gala Bel Canto Gala, on April 14, in the Eva and Marc Stern Grand Hall of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The evening honored the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning songwriters behind Disney’s “Frozen,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and LACC President and Vice Chair General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company Edward J. Nowak, for their many contributions to the arts and entertainment worlds.

Veteran film critic and historian Leonard Maltin emceed the evening’s program, which featured LACC Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson leading 200 young choristers in an assortment of familiar melodies from “Pinocchio” (1940), “Mary Poppins” (1964), “The Jungle Book” (1967), to “Frozen” (2014).

“Disney songs stay with us forever — no matter when you grew up,” Maltin said. “No parent is immune to their music.”

LACC Board Chair Jennifer Terry and multi-award winning composer Richard Sherman, who noted in presenting the award, “Ed is probably the only Disney lawyer with a piano in his office,” presented the Rebecca Thompson Founder’s Award to Nowak.

“Frozen” Film Director Chris Buck and Producer John Lasseter teamed up to bestow the Gala Bel Canto Award upon the Lopezes.

“Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have touched countless lives around the globe with their incredible artistry, as has Ed Nowak through his visionary behind-the-scenes leadership at the Disney Company over the past two decades,” said Gala Chair Cheryl R. Scheidemantle of Pasadena. “LACC is proud to recognize their remarkable achievements. We are also deeply grateful to Ed for his longtime support of LACC and its mission to provide quality choral music training to children.

The live auction, artfully conducted by “That Auction Girl” Vanessa Thanos, included trips to Paris and Nashville; “Keys to the Kingdom,” an exclusive Disneyland package, and a lively “Fund-A-Need” paddle pledge, which brought the evening’s tote to $257,00 for LACC scholarships.

In addition to Scheidemantle, Gala Bel Canto committee members included Andrea Bland, Rachel Fine, Michele Hemmings, Allison Merryman and Ann Sunshine, of Pasadena; Dianna Lau Beggs, Mary Blodgett and Andrea Patzakis, of San Marino, and Lynn Boberg of Sierra Madre.

Founded in Pasadena, in 1986, the LACC now has six progressively experienced choirs and has always attracted tremendous backing from the San Gabriel Valley. There was a large contingent of local supporters and proud LACC parents on the scene: Christopher Hawthorne, Carlton Calvin, John Patzakis, Dave Tomlinson, Geoff Bland, Rupert Hemmings, Steven Sunshine, Dan Boberg, Kevin Beggs, Annie Higgins, Chris and Lori Huisken, Jill Westbrook, Terry Knowles and Marshall Rutter, Elizabeth and Holger Besch, Teri Coughron, Margie and Paul Grossman, Sylvia and Benjamin Paz, Gwen Strong, Andrea Willard, Kishwar Jaffer, Stella and Howard Lee, Janet Kwuon and Stefan Lee, Patty Tavera, Frederic Cohen, Antoinette Adams, Jody Yoxsimer, Mike Jorgensen, Jo and Shawn Libaw, Dianne Magee, Jennifer and Christopher Jacobs, Jacqueline Lira, Dorothy Shubin and Greg Pieschala, Andrew Jacobs, Laurie Showd, Jennifer and Joe Sliskovich, Ann and Tony Cannon, Laura and Tom Buchanan, Scott Erickson, Marianne Haver Hill, Hilary and Peter Kingston, Stephanie Fossan and Kai Rysdal, Lucy Guernsey, Doug Thomas, Sarah and Steve Deschenes, Debra Don, Cherie Ko, Jackie and Michael Oclaray, Nancy and Henry DeNero, Sally and Robert Neely, Deborah Lewis, Nancy and Greg Annick, Jerilyn and Peter McAniff, David, Sarah and Luke Scheidemantle, Liz Moule and Stephanos Polyzoides, Bonnie and Richard Keating, Melissa and Dick Patterson, Helen and Mark Spitzer, Hope and Alex Demetriades, Theo Demetriades, Vena Luthey, Lindsay and Joel Henriod, Steven Kronauer, Phoebe and Larry Wilson and Jinghuan and Jervey Tervalon

Blue ribbon

More than 2,500 fifth grade students from throughout L.A. County convened on the Music Center Plaza, to successfully set a Guinness world record for the world’s largest ribbon dance.

The event highlighted the 45th Annual Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival, a three-day celebration where more than 16,000 students attended a free live performance and then performed a dance choreographed just for them. Presented by the Blue Ribbon, the premier women’s support organization of the Music Center and its resident companies, the Children’s Festival is California’s longest continuing arts education initiative focusing on the importance of the arts for students.

Pasadena Unified participants included Cleveland, Madison, McKinley and Villa Esperanza Elementary Schools.

pattdiroll@charter.net