CBA Ode to Joy

The CBASO has come a long way from its first performances in venues ranging from courtrooms at the Daley Center and conference rooms at the CBA building. (Gail Margolis remembers playing in the Drake Hotel’s Gold Coast Room, where no one could even hear the music.) Today, the CBASO’s current musical home is St. James Cathedral, an institution with its own amazing musical tradition. The CBASO has visited Orchestra Hall twice before. On June 5, 2011, the CBASO–in collaboration with the CBA Chorus, the Naperville Chorus, and the Young Naperville Singers–performed Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana to a sellout crowd. The CBASO’s first-ever appearance in the legendary performance space is a particularly favorite memory for many members. Carlin Metzger recalls the experience as being “hard to top, especially considering our orchestra went from playing concerts in a conference room at the CBA building to that amazing stage in just a few years!” The CBASO returned to Orchestra Hall again in 2015 with “Something Wonderful,” a celebration of the music of Broadway legends Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, partnering with the CBA Chorus and the Elgin Master Chorale. But in spite of the CBASO’s impressive evolution over the last thirty-plus years, there are certain things that remain fundamental to the CBASO organization. An early notice described the CBASO as follows: The Orchestra rehearses in the Daley Center on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:15 from September to May with a break for the holiday period to coincide with exams and holiday recess for our law student members. Our members range from sole practitioners to members of the city’s largest law firms, from law students to attorneys with more than 25 years at the bar, city corporation counsel, public defenders, and in-house attorneys. Our rehearsals are an enjoyable way to network with a diverse group of attorneys and judges. Gourmet cookies are an added benefit enjoyed by all at rehearsal breaks! This description remains largely accurate today. The CBASO still rehearses on Wednesday evenings in Courtroom 1401 of the Daley Center, taking breaks during holidays and the summer. The CBASO performs fall and spring concerts featuring serious works, and a holiday concert featuring lighter music. This is in addition to an annual fall concert of chamber works performed by smaller musical groups featuring CBASO and CBA Chorus members; a wine tasting event that is held each February; and the CBASO’s major fundraising event, the Barristers Big Band Benefit Ball, in April. And yes, even those cookie breaks still happen. Long-time “Cookie Czarina” Kathy Marshall (violin) explains why: “Besides being delicious and a nice sugar jolt to get us through rehearsal, cookies at break provide a gathering point for the group. They bring us together for food and conversation, nurturing the connections built on our common profession and love of music.” “The other thing that has remained fundamentally unchanged,” according to Patricia Bronte, “is the respect and camaraderie among the members of the CBASO. Lawyers are not known for being a harmonious crowd. Let’s face it: the opposite is true. But once a week these lawyers put aside rivalries and egos, we set up chairs and music stands, then we sit down and make music together. And that’s a beautiful thing, even if the sound we make is not perfect.” Current co-chair Ethel Leichti (cello) confirms that turning “marks on paper into beautiful sounds” is “hard work–individually and as a group. But also immensely satisfying–and great fun to boot.” Adrienne Kitchen (viola), another co-chair, adds that the CBASO “provides great community outreach as well. Not many people realize attorneys and judges have talents and interests outside of their legal work, and our concerts give the non-legal community a glimpse of attorneys as we really are: passionate, dedicated individuals.” Arthur Carvajal (trumpet) says that he had “no idea the extent of the rewards that were in store” when he

52 ODE TO JOY