Retirement concert will celebrate career of Harry Leff, establish scholarship
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Music teacher Harry Leff will retire from his 36-year career in the Las Virgenes Unified School District at the end of the school year, but his legacy will live on through a scholarship fund.

A retirement concert called "My Way: Celebrating the Career of Mr. Harry Leff" is being planned by Calabasas High Music Boosters to say farewell to a teacher who has inspired thousands of students over the decades, said Sherri Schreiber, a member of the booster club.

Leff launched his teaching career in 1972 at Lindero Middle School and has been teaching at A.E. Wright since 1990. He will conduct an orchestra composed of past students and professional musicians at the concert, scheduled for Sun., May 4 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Scherr Forum Theatre.

Although the concert is planned for May, the deadline for program advertisements is fast approaching. Schreiber said April 18 is the cutoff date to submit a tribute ad to be printed in the program. Money generated from program ads will help establish the Harry Leff Scholarship Fund for graduating music students at Agoura and Calabasas high schools.

Schreiber recommends that personal tribute ads include information about how Leff "impacted your family."

"I have had three children go through the music program at A.E. Wright," Schreiber said. "Mr. Leff has been an inspiration to our family and our children."

Concert program ads start at $75 for a business-card size. Quarter-, half- and full-page ads are also available at $100, $175 and $300 respectively. The music boosters are also accepting direct donations to the scholarship fund.

"Whatever he has done in his career has definitely touched the lives of his students," Schreiber said of Leff's legacy in the school district.

Advertisement forms and further details are available through Ellen Aaronson at ellenaa25@gmail.com.