| Download PDF >> The Society Of Singers Presents 18th Annual Ella Award To Herb Alpert And Lani Hall At The Beverly Hilton On May 18, 2009Sherman Oaks, CA -- Music icon, legendary trumpet player and bandleader Herb Alpert and his wife, internationally renowned singer Lani Hall, have been named the recipients of the 18th ELLA Award by the Society of Singers (SOS). The announcement was made by Jerry F. Sharell, the president and CEO of SOS, a non-profit organization that benefits the health and welfare of professional singers worldwide. Named after its first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald, the ELLA Award is given to individuals whose significant musical accomplishments are equaled by their dedication to charitable and humanitarian causes both local and international. “Herb Alpert is not only a great friend to singers through his work as an instrumentalist, a bandleader and an executive, but he’s an underappreciated vocalist himself,” says Sharell. “And when you look at Herb and Lani Hall, an exceptional singer in her own right, you’d be hard-pressed to find two people who have done more to support the arts and fund arts education.” The honor will be presented to Alpert and Hall at a special ceremony at the Beverly Hilton on May 18, 2008. Previous recipients of the ELLA Award, besides Ms. Fitzgerald, include Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Peggy Lee, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Julie Andrews, Placido Domingo, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, Elton John, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, and Andy Williams. Herb Alpert has sold more than 75 million albums as a trumpeter, bandleader of the groundbreaking Tijuana Brass, and vocalist on songs like “This Guy’s In Love with You.” He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for “A Taste of Honey,” and had three of his recordings—the early TJB hit “Whipped Cream,” 1966’s “What Now My Love,” and his 1979 solo hit “Rise””—honored with inclusion in the Grammy Awards Archive Collection. In 1962, Alpert and Jerry Moss founded A&M Records, long the world’s leading independently owned record label. As a producer, he has worked with the likes of Stan Getz, The Baja Marimba Band, Gato Barbieri, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, and Lani Hall, his Grammy-winning wife of more than thirty years, whose own career stretches from 1960s hits as lead singer with Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 to a string of solo albums in English, Portuguese and Spanish that began with 1972’s “Sun Down Lady” and most recently includes “Anything Goes,” Herb & Lani’s first recording project together as artists. Alpert’s and Hall’s ongoing philanthropy led to the creation, more than 20 years ago, of The Herb Alpert Foundation. For the past two decades, the Foundation has underwritten funding in the areas of the arts and education. Earlier this year, the Foundation celebrated the 10th anniversary of the internationally renowned Alpert Award in the Arts, granted to emerging artists in five disciplines annually. Alpert and Hall have also been major contributors to UCLA, for which he endowed the Herb Alpert School of Music, and to CalArts. The Society of Singers was founded in 1984 by Chairman Emeritus Ginny (Mrs. Henry) Mancini and Gilda Maiken Anderson when the two friends, both of them former professional singers, realized that many of their friends and colleagues were without pensions, unions, medical insurance or places to turn for financial help during tough times. With the help of donations from private and corporate sponsors, SOS offers comprehensive services to meet the emergency financial needs of applicants who have earned their primary living as singers for five years or more. SOS aids professional singers of all ages, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and awards scholarships to students pursuing their education in the vocal arts. For more information about the Society of Singers, please consult www.singers.org or call (818) 995-7100.
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