New York City Bar Chorus Celebrates 20 Years of "Musical Pro Bono" with November 15th Benefit Show

Big-city lawyers tend to get a "bum rap." However, for the past 20 years, the New York City Bar Chorus, directed by Kathryn E. Schneider, Esq., and accompanied by Matthew V. Grieco, Esq., has shown off the more "harmonious" instincts of legal professionals at community outreach venues across New York City, where they provide "musical pro bono." The 80+-member chorus is led by and composed entirely of legal professionals, including lawyers, legal assistants, law students, law librarians, as well as the occasional judge. (Note: Heather K., founder of WGINY, and a lawyer for a local non-profit organization, is a member of the New York City Bar Chorus.)

Since 1993, the chorus has staged well over 200 performances at its outreach venues, including senior residences, AIDS and cancer support centers, homeless shelters, and rehabilitation facilities. The group has also done the occasional "glamor gig" for legal luminaries, and has appeared three times on television, including as NY 1 News "New Yorkers of the Week."

Since residents at many of the chorus's outreach venues request privacy, its shows are not often open to the public. But, in honor of its Twentieth Anniversary, the chorus is staging a celebratory benefit show on Friday, November 15, 2013, at 7pm, at the New York City Bar Association, which is open to the public. This performance will showcase the CBC's diverse repertoire, ranging from Queen to Dolly Parton, Gershwin to gospel, and West Side Story to Pippin and Wicked, and raise money for the chorus and the City Bar Fund, the pro bono affiliate of the City Bar. Quoted in a recent press release, City Bar President Carey R. Dunne has said, "I think they sound more like singers who practice law than lawyers who sing."

Check out the chorus' event listing or join the Facebook invite for the "New York City Bar Chorus 20th Anniversary Concert," and preview the chorus's professional and uplifting sound on YouTube.