Chorus Members

Jim Raycroft, choral director, holds a master’s degree in voice from the California Institute of the Arts. He has performed all over North America and in Europe. He is a current, 30-plus year member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and sang with the Los Angeles Opera for 12 years. He is also busy in the studios and has appeared in the soundtracks for numerous movies including Home Alone, Jurassic Park, A.I., Mars Attacks, Waterworld, XXX, Lady In The Water and Godzilla, and appeared as a singing pirate in the opening scene of Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End. He has appeared on the Grammys, in numerous TV shows and has sung for the President of the United States and the Queen of England. He founded and sings with the vocal jazz group Pacific Swingline and the barbershop quartet The Nickelodeon. He founded The Singers Elite Vocal Big Band, sang for 5 years with Disneyland’s barbershop quartet, The Dapper Dans, spent Christmas of 1983 with Disneyland’s Dickens Carolers and has recorded with the Roger Wagner Chorale.

Mr. Raycroft is a published arranger and orchestrator. In addition to being the Choral Director for Legal Voices of the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic, he is the Music Director for the First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach. He has prepared choruses for the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra and his singer referral service, Singers Elite, has provided vocal entertainment of all kinds to Southern California audiences for more than 25 years. In 2002, he founded and produces the annual “Choral Taste of Los Angeles,” a reading session of choral music by L.A. area composers.

When he is not singing or writing music, he owns a company that imports and sells digitally sampled pipe organs and has developed a computerized system called OrganMuse that automatically turns pages for organists.

Derrick Lowe, piano accompanist, graduated from Westmont College with a double major in music and philosophy and has since gone on to make good use of both majors, having worked as both a professional musician after studying at the Berklee College of Music and as an attorney for Baker, Keener & Nahra after graduating from UCLA School of Law. As a musician, Derrick has been playing piano since the age of four in a wide variety of styles, ensembles and venues, ranging from dive bars to the Disney Concert Hall and solo jazz piano to symphonic orchestras. As an attorney, Derrick’s practice as an associate with Baker, Keener & Nahra focuses primarily in the areas of commercial and business litigation and professional liability cases. Currently, he brings together his love of music and the law as the piano accompanist for Legal Voices.

Renée Burkett, soprano, earned a Bachelor of Music from Trinity University and a Master of Music from the University of North Texas. She has sung with the opera companies of Houston, Dallas and Los Angeles and is a soloist with many area ensembles and is a studio musician. Ms. Burkett is the assistant choral director of Legal Voices and has served as a legal assistant for several law firms.

Mary Abbott

The Honorable Sheri Bluebond, soprano, is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California. She received her B.A. and her J.D. from UCLA and, before joining the bench in 2001, co-chaired the Creditors’ Rights and Insolvency Group at Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles. As a performing arts major in high school, Judge Bluebond sang with Camerata, the school’s 16-voice vocal ensemble, and held leading roles in school musicals, including Marian the Librarian in Music Man and Kate in Kiss Me Kate. She has sung with the University Chorus at UCLA under the direction of Don Weiss, the University of Judaism Concert Singers under the direction of Tova Morcos and numerous other school and synagogue choirs. She is honored to be a newly-minted member of Legal Voices.

Phyllis W. Cheng, alto, is an attorney mediator in Los Angeles. She served in the administrations of California Governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. Among other things, she was Director of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the largest state civil rights agency in the United States, and was partner in a global law firm. Ms. Cheng received her B.A. and M.Ed. from UCLA, her Ph.D. from USC, and her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law. In her youth, she played the violin in the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra.

Carol Clem

Carshena Culmer

Roxy Darr soprano, is thrilled to be a new member of Legal Voices. She is a Screen Actor’s Guild and Actor’s Equity performer and has appeared in numerous television shows and films. Currently, she is in a movie called The Silent Life, as an actor and theme songwriter. Ms. Darr was discovered by billionaire Clive Palmer of Australia to sing “My Heart Will Go On” for the Global Launch of the Titanic II in New York and London. She is dubbed as “The Anthem Girl” for holding a record of singing the national anthem for Major League Baseball at Dodgers Stadium, the National Basketball Association at Staples Center, and overseas for the troops. Ms. Darr has traveled as the lead singer of Kidz Bop Live for a 50-city nationwide tour and Canada. She has always had a passion for law and was the Vice President of her Pre-Law society as an undergraduate. Currently, she is in her last year of law school and is actively preparing to take the California Bar Examination in February. She plans on practicing Entertainment Law in Los Angeles.

Joni Davis

Alex Fjoslien

Lynn Gandi

Samantha K. Gold, soprano, is thrilled to make her debut with Legal Voices. Her past musical experience includes the California Vocal Association All-State Choir, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Chorale and Chamber Singers and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony Singers at the Ford Theater. Ms. Gold is a proud graduate of Loyola Law School. Prior to law school, she served as Director of Programs for the Grossman Burn Foundation.

Maureen Green, soprano, is a Deputy District Attorney serving in the Parole Division. She travels to prisons throughout the state to oppose the parole of murderers. She studied voice at the Crestmont Conservatory in San Mateo, at UCLA under Don Weiss and currently studies under Jeannine Wagner-Gallardo.

Stacy Griner

Debra Jimenez

Una Lee Jost, alto, is a small business and nonprofit attorney based in Pasadena, California. She is a 2001 graduate of Loyola Law School. Formerly civil defense litigator for Los Angeles law firms and in-house legal counsel for a private university, Ms. Jost now has her own solo practice (Jost Legal) providing outside general counsel services for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. She is a recipient of both a Chancellor’s Music Performance Award (piano) and Gluck Music Fellowship (voice) at UC Riverside, as well as a University Honors Program Residential Fellowship for founding a college artists troupe that shared their musical talents at hospitals, homeless shelters, and convalescent homes. She served many years as a keyboardist/vocalist for local churches with her bassist husband Geoffrey Jost, and for a while she was the perennial wedding singer.

Beata Kaminska

Lauren Karim

Carol Kidd, soprano, is a vastly experienced civil litigation legal secretary who has supported some of the top trial attorneys in California for 25 years. She is a charter member of Legal Voices and has also sung with the Santa Monica Symphony. As a child, she was introduced to an immeasurable number of musical genres and her music experience began early on with piano lessons and then voice, with some classical training in high school and college, which led to performing in many choirs, musicals and as a soloist for weddings and funerals over many years. She is lovingly supported and encouraged by her husband and two lovely daughters.

Jody L. Klipple, soprano, graduated from Southwestern Law School and practices Labor Law. She is admitted to practice law in California and New York. Her music experience goes back many years to her junior high and high school days when she sang in numerous school and church choirs and held the lead in the school play (Ado Annie in Oklahoma). Her school choirs competed in Boston and Canada. More recently, she joined Legal Voices as a Soprano I.

Deleyla Lawrence, soprano, is a classically trained vocalist who has been performing since she was five years old. She is a graduate of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Ms. Lawrence is currently an attorney at McGuireWoods LLP, and she concentrates her practice on commercial litigation and consumer finance law. She has extensive experience defending and advising financial institutions in state, federal and bankruptcy matters.

Lauren Movsesian

Marisa Novak

Anita L. Olp

Cindy Organ, soprano, has been singing since she was in second grade and has sung with Legal Voices, on and off, since its inception. She is an associate at Parker, Milliken, Clark, O’Hara & Samuelian, focusing her legal practice on business litigation. Ms. Organ is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. She has sung with the San Diego Children’s Choir, the Bishop’s Singers, the Princeton University Chapel Choir and the USC Thornton Concert Choir.

Darice Richman

Jamilex Rodriguez

Yvette Ross, a paralegal for 18 years with L.A. Superior Court’s Family Law Department, has sung background vocals with some of the biggest names in the music industry. She has been honored to perform in such prestigious venues as the Greek Theatre, Hollywood Bowl, John Anson Ford Theatre, Dodger Stadium, Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Universal Amphitheatre, Getty Museum and the Basilica of St. Francis Assisi.

Tiffani V. Sainz

Barbara Seidel

Shannon Sexton

Wendy L. Sheinkopf

Candice Shikai

Joanna Spilker, soprano, is a philanthropic and nonprofit consultant with a strong background in development. She is a graduate of Barnard College and USC Law School, and she is member of the California Bar. She recently served in the Leadership Circle of Hillary for America’s National Finance Committee. Ms. Spilker has studied voice since the age of 14. She was a longstanding member of the Juilliard Choral Union and the Clurman Singers, which became Essential Voices USA, the Chorus in Residence for the New York Pops. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center (Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall), among other venues.  

Mary Stanford

Katrina Veldkamp, soprano, is an employee benefits attorney with Best Best & Krieger LLP. She is a double Bruin, having received both her undergraduate degree and her J.D. from UCLA. While at UCLA, Ms. Veldkamp was a member of the a cappella group Scattertones. She joined Legal Voices in winter 2013 and is currently on the Board of Conundrum Theatre Company, which is dedicated to bringing new interpretations of classic and original theater to Los Angeles.

Kameisha Wooten

Kayla Xavier, soprano, is a 2014 graduate of Chapman University where she received her JD and an MFA in film & television producing. She is currently in the Intellectual Property group at NBC Universal. She briefly studied violin, guitar, and piano at a young age. An artist at heart, singing has always been a creative outlet. Ms. Xavier is honored and delighted to sing with the LA Lawyers Philharmonic and Legal Voices.

Marize Alphonso, alto, is an associate attorney at the law firm of Reder & Feig LLP. A graduate of UC Berkeley and UCLA School of Law, she now practices transactional entertainment law, specializing in production legal services on television and movies. She was always a part of her school choirs and theatre programs, and she is excited to continue such involvement in the arts through Legal Voices.

Mallory Andrews

Noreen Barcena

Luisa Beristain

Nancy Braden-Parker

Rebecca Bullard

Donna Bullock

Kim Cameron

Miriam Cardona

Hilary Huebsch Cohen, alto, a proud double Bruin, graduated in 1978 from UCLA School of Law. After practicing with several healthcare law firms, in 1995 she opened her own practice focused on the representation of medical professionals in their business transactions. A lawyer’s lawyer, she was lead author for the 1992-98 revisions of Organizing California Corporations published by the California Continuing Education of the Bar and has numerous other publications. She served on the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar and on the boards of directors of a variety of nonprofit corporations, including as president of the California Women’s Law Center. As a youth, a dozen years of keyboard lessons and the obligatory folk guitar in the ‘70s. Ms. Cohen has an extensive choral background. With the Cantori Domino choir, she has had the great good fortune of singing at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Jonathan Willcocks.

Christie Crahan

Collette Darby

Shawn Davis

Stephanie Fajuri

Janie Freedman

Stephanie Gordon

Louise L. Greene

Rochelle Higgins

Etta Hood

Laura Hummasti

Linda B. Hurevitz, alto, is a trial attorney specializing in labor and employment law at Ballard, Rosenberg, Golper & Savitt. She is an Advocate with the American Board of Trial Advocates and holds an individual AV rating with Martindale-Hubbell. Prior to practicing law, under the stage name Linda Asher, she toured internationally and recorded two albums as the featured vocalist with The New Deal. Ms. Hurevitz’s passion is music and she not only sings with Legal Voices but is also a featured vocalist with Gary Greene, Esq. and His Big Band of Barristers and The Singers in Law, a vocal quartet singing the Great American Songbook.

Natalie Jones

Delaram Kamalpour

Linda Kaye

Michelle Kim

Christiane Cargill Kinney

Julia C. Shear Kushner

Grace Lau, alto, is finishing up her 3L year at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Following the California bar in July 2016, she hopes to pursue a career in civil litigation. Prior to joining Legal Voices, Ms. Lau has sung in the UCLA Chorale and in Deviant Voices A Cappella and has taken private lessons for classical voice and piano since childhood. A musician at heart, she is both honored and excited to perform with the talented musically-inclined legal professionals of the LA Lawyers Philharmonic.

Hon. Debra Losnick

Lindsy Martin, alto, is an attorney practicing real estate and probate litigation. Prior to returning to law school, she taught piano for nine years and was an active member of the Music Teacher’s Association. She has also performed with various show choirs.

Rita Mansuryan, alto, is currently a JD candidate at the UCLA School of Law. Previously, she earned a BA in English and a BA in Political Science at UCLA. Most recently, she earned a Master of Studies in English Language and Literature degree at the University of Oxford in the UK. Her choral experience spans from participating in a nationally-competitive show choir ensemble in high school to the UCLA Chorale as an undergraduate to the University of Oxford Somerville College Chapel Choir and finally to Legal Voices. Overall, Ms. Mansuryan enjoys balancing the rigors of academia with her genuine affinity for choral music and performance.

Lauren McDermott

Ana Mihanovic

Crystal Miller-O’Brien, alto, has been involved in the entertainment industry for over 35 years, serving primarily as pro bono counsel assisting newer singers and musical groups who need assistance with signing agency contracts and closing music deals. She has also worked full-time as Employment Law Counsel/General Counsel for MMC-HR, LLC since 2006, which is a human resources outsourcing company. As a child, Ms. Miller-O’Brien was a Suzuki Method music student. She played the recorder, then the accordion, and ultimately the piano by age five. She played the clarinet with her junior high marching band, sang in the Performance Choirs of her junior and high school, competing statewide. And once in college, she studied piano and music history at Oberlin’s Conservatory of Music, touring Ohio singing with Voices for Christ, a gospel and inspirational music choir.

Adriene Mixon, alto, is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. She has studied jazz voice, guitar and piano.

Hon. Deborah Myers-Cregar

Deanna Newell

Saundra Nicholson

Susan Park

Michelle KimC

Marisol Rivas

Blake A. Rummel, alto, is a litigation attorney specializing in probate and trust disputes. She is a shareholder and director at Weinstock Manion, a preeminent estate planning firm in Century City. Ms. Rummel sings with the Chancel Choir at Bel Air Presbyterian Church and believes, quoting Nietzsche, “without music, life would be a mistake.”

Michele P. Schultz

Hon. Heidi Shirley

Cathryn Taylor

Pamela Smith

Yolanda Angelina Tapia, alto, worked as a litigation secretary for 52 years. She is currently on the board (V.P. Program Chairman) of the Los Angeles Legal Secretaries Association. Ms. Tapia studied music from age nine through college. She played clarinet and saxophone. She started singing at age four (performing with her two sisters at weddings, dinner parties, community events, etc.).

Danielle Tenner

Gillian van Muyden, alto, is the Chief Assistant City Attorney for the City of Glendale. She advises the City Council, Successor Agency and various boards, commissions and City Departments on land use, real estate, CEQA and general municipal matters. Ms. van Muyden chaired the Executive Committee of the State Bar Real Property Law Section, served as Managing Editor of the State Bar Real Property Law Section’s California Real Property Journal and chaired the League of California Cities, Post-Redevelopment Working Group. The Los Angeles Daily Journal ranked Ms. van Muyden as a Top 25 Municipal Law Attorney in 2012. Ms. van Muyden started singing in the children’s church choir, and she studied classical flute in junior high and high school, winning gold and silver medals at the Los Angeles Solo and Ensemble Festival. She continued her musical studies at UC Berkeley and performed in a folk/country music band in the Bay Area.

Sherron Wiggins

Brian Anderson, tenor, is a current law student at the UCLA School of Law (’17). He intends to practice business litigation like his father, and though he has not yet decided on a specialty, he hopes his summer associate experience at Irell & Manella LLP will help him find where his legal passion lies. Music has been a part of Brian’s life since he began playing the trumpet and singing in church choirs at age 12. He worried that a career in law would require him to give up his participation in music, and he is grateful for the LA Lawyers Philharmonic organization which gives him a much needed musical outlet.

Matthew Artson

Sean Crahan

Sandy Fleck

Kenneth D. Freundlich

Randall Garrou

Ronald J. Higgins

De Lano G. Hull, tenor, is a native of Southampton, United Kingdom, and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (GO, Steelers!). He has been performing as both an amateur and a professional singer since 1987 in operas such as The Barber of Seville, Dido and Anaeas, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme and La Traviata. Mr. Hull has also appeared in various musicals such as Porgy and Bess, The Music Man and 1776. He has been serving as the Office Services Coordinator at Fox Rothschild, LLP since 2010.

Jonathan Jager

Sergio Kays

Anthony Khoury, tenor, is a solo practitioner in Westlake Village specializing in criminal defense, as well as general civil/business litigation and employment litigation matters. He received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his juris doctor degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Mr. Khoury has been practicing law since 2005. While his parents were both singers, he didn’t discover his own love of singing until a few years ago when he joined his first singing group. Mr. Khoury joined the Legal Voices choir in 2017 as a tenor.

Robert Link

Vincent Marchetta

Mark I. Melo, tenor, has been a member of Legal Voices since its inception and has been a featured performer in its concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Shrine Auditorium, and with the Santa Monica Symphony. By day, he is a litigation attorney with Bradley & Gmelich in Glendale, specializing in law and motion practice and civil litigation. Mr. Melo is also a regular performer with the Conundrum Theatre Company in Pasadena and serves on its board of directors. Most importantly, he is blessed to have the love and support of his wife, Charmaine, and his children, Richie and Billie.

David Morisaki

Malinda Muller

Chuck Panzarella

David Ritchie

Barry Shanley

David M. Zlotchew, tenor, sang and danced his way around the World with the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club and performed in numerous a cappella groups in his college days. Mr. Zlotchew cut his teeth as a corporate generalist lawyer at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, LLP, where he practiced for 10 years before moving on to other firms in New York City. In 2014, he “temporarily” relocated to Los Angeles to serve as Interim Chief of Staff to a local elected official and for the chance to sing with Legal Voices. Mr. Zlotchew returned to the practice of law in 2016, joining the in-house legal department at on-line mailing and shipping leader, Stamps.com Inc.

Nicholas Allis

Bruce Altshuler

Michael Collum

Anthony Crane, bass, is an entertainment law paralegal. He earned his paralegal certificate from the L.A. Valley College’s Professional Paralegals Academy and has an ABA-approved AA Degree from West Los Angeles College as a Legal Analyst. Mr. Crane is a guitarist, composer and vocalist.

Dave Deno, bass, was the moderator and producer of a syndicated legal radio program. He is also the Creative Director at Salem Media LA, a group of five radio stations. Mr. Deno began singing in choirs in the 4th grade with his first solo in the 8th grade. He also directed choirs for 20 years. He was the narrator on a Ron Huff/Bill Gaither recording and a studio singer for Maranatha Music. He has also had an extensive solo career, entertaining audiences from coast to coast.

John Fu

Eric Goldie

Isaac Hanson

Andrew Kim

Judge Curtis A. Kin, baritone, presides over criminal matters for the California Superior Court in Los Angeles County. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles and had served as both the Chief of Appeals and the Chief of the General Crimes Sections. He was also a law clerk to Hon. Sonia Sotomayor when she was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. Judge Kin has studied classical voice and sung in various choral groups over the years, including solo parts and membership in the Metropolitan Chorale, the in-residence chorale ensemble for Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Richard Koven, baritone, is an Associate at the Law Offices of Weitzman and Estes in Seal Beach, where he handles all aspects of Workers’ Compensation litigation on behalf of employers, carriers, and third-party administrators. In 2013, he was certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California as a legal specialist in the practice of Workers’ Compensation Law. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UCLA in 1999 and graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2002. He joined Legal Voices in 2015 and has enjoyed participating in concerts with them.

Mike Lambert

Hon. Maury Leiter, bass, is a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Before his appointment to the bench, he was a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP and, prior to that, a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Judge Leiter has performed with the Brentwood Palisades Chorale and joined Legal Voices in 2019. In his college and law school days, he performed with the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players, the Georgetown G&S Society and in various musical theater productions.

John J. Manier

Maurice Meyers

Michael Moore, bass, has been the Administrative Services Assistant/Front Office Receptionist for the Law Office of Weston Garrou and Mooney in West Los Angeles for more than 19 years. He studied music at Northwestern High School in Detroit, Michigan, under the direction of Brazeal Dennard, who’s a well-known local musician, composer and teacher. Mr. Moore sang for five years with the U.S. Army Ensemble Chorus at Fort Ord in Monterey, California.

Benjamin Natkin

Hon. Steven Z. Perren, bass/baritone, has been serving as an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal in the Second Appellate District since 1999 after serving for 17 years as a Superior Court Judge for the County of Ventura. Where else does a jurist go in order to sing at Disney Hall? Justice Perren has been a member of Legal Voices from its inception. He has also performed over the last 25 years with the Cabrillo Music Theater and the Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company in Thousand Oaks, The Rubicon Theater in Ventura and with Opera Santa Barbara. He is a recovering tenor and has no plans to quit his day job.

Steve Santos

John Hamilton Scott

Cary Simowitz

Eddie Sun, baritone, is a solo practitioner focused on immigration law at the Law Office of Eddie Sun in the San Gabriel Valley. He is also a pastor on the weekends; preaching, leading and singing in worship band, teaching guitar and officiating weddings. Occasionally, he conducts marching band and orchestra as a high school substitute music teacher. Mr. Sun participated in collegiate Concert Choir competitions at San Jose State University, played in a rock band in high school and was forced to play piano by his mother as a child. He went to law school at Trinity, where he competed in moot court and received the Student of the Year award.

Robert Wargo