Join us for our third annual comedy night to be held at the world famous Hollywood Laugh Factory on Thursday, Feb 23, 2012. Click here for tickets.

CMF donated a heap of new instruments to White Memorial Medical Center (WMMC) just in time for the holidays at their annual Cleft Palate Program Holiday Party. The hospital will use these keyboards, guitars, drums and other percussion-type instruments to start their first pediatric music program. Board member Talin Babikian surprised the hospital with an announcement that CMF will also provide groups of pediatric patients at WMMC with music therapy in 2012. The hospital presented CMF with an official Certificate of Appreciation and an adorable plaque featuring the artwork of a young patient. Many thanks to our partners Coachart, West LA Music and Casio for your support, and to volunteers Lindsay Henry, Mary Goodarzi, Lily Vartanyan, Monica Aben & Jake Giles Netter for your amazing work and dedication!

CMF hosted its first Networking & Professional Development event for music therapists and other allied professionals, facilitated by Vanya Green, MA, MT-BC.

On Saturday, September 17, over 150 AMAZING individuals came together to suppport Children’s Music Fund. At the gorgeous home of musical talents Edie & Michael Lehmann Boddicker, guests were greeted with gourmet food sponsored by La Dolce Vita restaurant in Beverly Hills and fine wine from Vampire Vineyards. The evening program featured special guest Emcees: comedian Patrick Ney, actress Jenna Macari and West LA Music’s Rick Waite. Inspirational speakers included Raffi Tachdjian, President & Founder of CMF; Firouzeh Banki, a longtime CMF supporter, and Anna Rahm, who received music therapy and a guitar from CMF in 2009, after undergoing numerous procedures to manage serious and chronic medical conditions. An enthusiastoc Opportunity Drawing and Live Auction included fabulous prizes, and West LA Music offered to donate a guitar to CMF for every $500 contribution and a keyboard for every $1000 gift that evening. The program concluded with a live performance under the stars by multi-talented artist Paul Adelstein.

This was CMF’s most successful event, allowing us to expand our extraordinary services to reach even more children with the healing power of music in the coming year!

Paul Adelstein will perform Live Under the Stars at CMF’s Third Annual Healing Through Music Benefit on Saturday, September 17, 2011. Tickets are selling fast! To reserve yours, please click here.

Paul Adelstein’s films include the Coen Brothers’ “Intolerable Cruelty,” in which he played George Clooney’s sidekick, “Be Cool,” opposite John Travolta and Uma Thurman, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and the Harold Ramis-directed “Bedazzled,” in which he played five roles.

Currently, Adelstein can be seen in ABC’s “Private Practice,” playing Dr. Cooper Freedman. He has been a series regular on several television programs, including “Prison Break,” in which he played Agent Paul Kellerman, “Nobody’s Watching,” in which he played Jeff Zucker, and “Breaking News.” He has guest starred on “ER,” “Without a Trace,” “Medium,” “Scrubs” and “Law & Order.”

A Chicago native, Adelstein started his career on stage with John Cusack’s New Crime Productions and the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Also a songwriter, Adelstein sings, plays, and records under the band name DORIS. His songs can be heard in the Coen Brothers’ movie, “Burn After Reading,” and the indie film “The Missing Person.” He also scored and wrote original songs for the award winning short, “Mullitt.”

Please join Children’s Music Fund at our Third Annual Healing Through Music Benefit on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 7:00 PM. Chic cocktail party at a spectacular private home in Encino. Live music under the stars. Opportunity drawing & live auction. Tickets available at $100. To register, please CLICK HERE. Questions? Contact Cecily at 310.428.0589 or Cecily@theCMF.org

RAFFI’S CORNER

Dear Friends, 

Greetings from Children’s Music Fund! We are working tirelessly to build our organizational capacity to bring the healing power of music to even more children through music therapy and instrument donation. 

As you may know, we recently welcomed Cecily Lerner to the CMF team. Cecily joined us as Executive Director in a long-term, operational consulting capacity. We have also just welcomed four new Board Certified Music Therapists to our network of expert professionals, allowing us to serve all of the young clients who have qualified for service this year to date.

Our newly restructured Board of Directors now consists of seven highly qualified members with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. As President & Founder of CMF, I am pleased to work with an exceptional Board: Michael Babikian; Talin Babikian, Vice President; Jean Grasso; Mayer Nazarian, Treasurer; Nicole Sahagen; and Corey Weiss, Vice President.

In an effort to expand our professional partnerships and client referrals, CMF is in the process of forming and strengthening innovative partnerships with a number of local organizations. In addition, we will be hosting several outreach events at local hospitals. See News & Events for more details.

Of course, we cannot sustain this remarkable growth without your support! CMF will be hosting our third annual Healing Through Music event in September 2011. This exclusive event promises to bring together talented artists and enthusiastic supporters for an evening of great music, great people and great eats! We’ll be in touch with more details soon.

Children’s Music Fund welcomes your charitable contribution – your support at any time and any level is essential to maintaining our vital programs. We could undoubtedly use your help now! To give the gift of music to a child, please click here.    

Thank you for everything you do. Together we can achieve great things!

Warmest regards,

Raffi Tachdjian, MD, MPH
President & Founder

NEWS & EVENTS

LAUGH FACTORY: On Friday, January 7, 2011, Children’s Music Fund held a benefit at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. The turnout for this incredible fundraising event left standing room only! More than 250 CMF patrons laughed their way through an evening featuring comedians Pedro Hernandez, Jamie Kaler, Suli McCullough, Patrick Ney, Johnny Sanchez and headliner Maz Jobrani. The event raised more than $13,000 in support of CMF programs. CMF has been invited back by Laugh Factory management for a second round – and that doesn’t happen often. Get ready to get your laugh-on in 2012! 

HOSPITAL OUTREACH: As part of a new outreach initiative, CMF hosted its first Hospital Outreach Event. “Let’s Jam!”  on June 1 at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. Fifteen-year-old LAVA/Universal Republic Records recording artist Kaile Goh performed with her band  on closed circuit TV for the hospital’s pediatric patients. Following the performance, Vanya Green, MA, MT-BC, CMF’s Director of Music Therapy, facilitated two interactive and totally awesome jam sessions with artists, patients and their families. CMF and Miller Children’s made the news with this rockin’ event! A big thanks to Miller Children’s for welcoming us with open arms. To read more, click here.

COMING UP: Stay tuned for details about our third annual HealingThrough Music event to be held in September 2011.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: NICOLE SAHAGEN                      

Children’s Music Fund is pleased to welcome Nicole M. Sahagen, Esq. to our growing Board of Directors!

Nicole is an attorney in the Real Estate Practice Group of the prestigious Buchalter Nemer law firm, whose main office is in downtown Los Angeles.  She represents buyers, sellers, lenders, tenants, landlords and developers in all aspects of the acquisition, financing, leasing, development and disposition of commercial, industrial and medical‐use properties. Prior to joining Buchalter Nemer, Nicole was Lead Real Estate Attorney in the Legal Department of a national restaurant company.

Nicole has numerous professional and community affiliations. She was recently elected General Counsel on the 2011 Board of Directors for Commercial Real Estate Women ‐Los Angeles (CREW‐LA), and is the recipient of the 2011 CREW “Woman on the Rise” Award. Congratulations, Nicole! She serves as Vice Chair of the Steering Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Leasing and Development Section, and she is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Urban Land Institute and the Armenian Bar Association, for which she has served on the Grants Committee. Nicole has also published several works and presents regularly in the field of commercial real estate. �

Earning her J.D. at Boston College Law School, Nicole was a Summer Associate in the Legal Department of Massachusetts Port Authority. She earned her B.A. magna cum laude with honors in Politics and Economics at New York University. Nicole was also a Charles Edison Scholar at the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University.

If that’s not enough, Nicole enjoys live music at the Hollywood Bowl, meandering through our local art museums (her favorites are the Norton Simon and both Getty museums), traveling, hiking in Malibu Canyon, and spending time with family and friends.

Nicole became involved with CMF after being inspired by Founder Raffi Tachdjian’s “Passion for bringing joy to children’s lives through the gift of music — a universal language.” In her capacity as a Board member, Nicole hopes to “Promote the community’s awareness of CMF’s great mission and encourage its involvement in perpetuating that mission and ultimately helping to give many children a better quality of life.”

Welcome, Nicole!

As many of you are already aware, Children’s Music Fund (CMF) is growing and we’ve been searching for a leader to help take us to the next level. We are thrilled to welcome Cecily Lerner to the CMF team. On March 1, Cecily joined us as Executive Director in a long-term, operational consulting capacity. Working part-time, she will focus on organizational planning and development as it relates to fund development, communications, program and board development, as well as budget and administrative operations.

Cecily is a seasoned nonprofit professional. With 13 years of broad-range nonprofit management experience, she has developed valuable relationships with both nonprofit and corporate leaders and decision-makers. Cecily spent 8 years working as a senior fundraiser before starting her own nonprofit consulting business in 2009. She specializes in building capacity for small nonprofits.

Cecily has worked closely with nonprofit boards, lay leadership, senior management and staff in the areas of strategic planning, campaign development, special events, individual & institutional giving, program development, budget & administration, communications, corporate partnerships, and staff & board development.

Since beginning work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association in 2001, Cecily has been closely connected to the arts. She has extensive experience building capacity for arts education and music programs specifically. In addition to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cecily has worked with organizations including American Jewish University, American Youth Symphony, Antaeus Company and the Los Angeles Jewish Home.

Cecily received her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Washington University in St. Louis in 1992. She completed a graduate program in Education at Loyola Marymount University in 1993.  She participates in professional development activities on a regular basis and has been a featured speaker on nonprofit management and fundraising for the American Jewish University and the American Camping Association.

A Los Angeles native, Cecily enjoys spending time with family and friends. She lives in Encino with her husband, Adam, and “almost” 6 year old daughter, Ava.

Please join us in welcoming Cecily to our growing CMF family!

Cecily may be reached at 310-428-0589 or cecily@theCMF.org.

Dear CMF family and supporters,

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for joining us at our comedy fundraising event last week and for your generous donation to our cause – providing music therapy and musical instruments to chronically ill or hospitalized children.  We are grateful for the fantastic lineup of all-star comedians who generously donated their time and to Mr. Jamie Masada and his team at the Hollywood Laugh Factory for providing us with a terrific venue.  We had a fun time planning the event and even a better time laughing the night away with you.

To learn more about our programs and upcoming events, please sign up for our newsletter on our website.  You may also make monetary or instrument donations directly through our website.

A $50 donation provides an hour of music therapy by a certified music therapist, a $150 donation provides a musical instrument and one music therapy session, and a $500 donation provides a full 10-session package of music therapy for a chronically ill child.

We wish you much happiness, health, and success in 2011!

The CMF Team

The Laugh Factory in Los angeles will be hosting a comedy night to support CMF to help bring the healing power of music to local children suffering from chronic or life-altering illnesses. 

The evening will feature a line-up of all-star talent headlined by the celebrated Maz Jobrani, along with his friends: Suli McCullough, Pedro Hernandez, Jamie Kaler, and Patrick Ney. 

WHEN:               Friday, January 7, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:20 p.m.)

WHERE:             The Laugh Factory, 8001 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA.  (323) 656-1336 x1

TICKETS:            $25 –  Student Admission      $50 – General Admission      $75 – VIP Admission

                           *2 Drinks minimum applies

For tickets, please visit: http://cmflaughs.eventbrite.com.  Advance purchase is strongly recommended.

The Laugh Factory will donate 100% of all ticket sales to The Children’s Music Fund.  We welcome any additional donations.  You may make additional donations through our website.