“One song that the whole world can sing; one voice that together will bring

One hope that above everything, the whole world can sing one song.”

“One Song,” by Mitchell J. Sharoff

Nearly 300 Laguna Woods Village residents of diverse nationalities, religions, ethnic backgrounds, races, ages and vocal abilities gathered at the Performing Arts Center over three days last week to sing “One Song,” Mitchell J. Sharoff’s ode to peace, hope and friendship.

Groups within the choir branched out to sing the chorus in their native languages – Korean, Farsi, Hindi, Spanish and German – and many singers came dressed in national costumes.

“One Song – 300 Voices,” as the event was called, was put on by the Community Bridge Builders as an effort to provide hope of a more positive, unified community through music.

It was the brainchild of Rebeca Gilad, a founder of the Bridge Builders, which came to life in the aftermath of the 2022 deadly shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church.

Gilad was searching for a way to express the ideals of inclusivity and friendship and the absence of hate and friction. Inspired in part by the 1985 benefit anthem “We Are the World,” she thought that the Bridge Builders’ ideals could be expressed in a similarly themed song.

“In a world of turmoil and division, in a world where words have become so hurtful, we think that, as someone said, ‘When words fail, music speaks,’” she said.

Gilad said she was also motivated by the ideals that her late daughter, Lizi Gilad Silver, lived by.

“I wanted to celebrate my daughter’s life, who had been an activist for peace, human rights and animal rights since early youth,” she said.

The musical event brought high praise from participants, and for many it accomplished what was intended.

They called it uplifting, inspirational, gratifying, even healing. They came together with their neighbors, they made new friends, and they achieved a greater understanding of one another. And they said the unifying event brought hope – hope for the community, for the world, for peace.

“‘One Song’ showed how a community comes together,” said participant Marcy Sheinwold.

Sue Dearing described the event as “joyfully celebrating diversity and community through beautiful music.”

Frieda Gorelick called it “an artistic, uplifting way of sharing peace and hope in our community and the wider world.”

One participant called it simply “one big giant hug.”

Willie Phillips, vice president of the Bridge Builders, called the event “a beautiful thing.”

“Right, wrong or indifferent, there is always strength in numbers,” he said. “When we all sang together, we got the attention of the hearers. Not only that, there is a universal symphonic resonance and rhythm woven into the DNA of all human beings that is undeniable. ‘One Song’ started on the ‘right’ note, sailed along on the chorus of unity, crescendoed on the plain of hope, pause at the bar for peace, and joyfully ended on one accord.

“Stay tuned people, because ‘we’ve only just begun to sing.’”

For Gilad, the process to put together the event took about eight months. The first challenge was finding a song that expressed her mission. While searching the internet, she came across Sharoff’s “One Song.”

“When I told him what I wanted to do, Mitchell said he wanted to be part of that,” Gilad recalled. “Not only did he give us instant permission, he said he would come and participate in the performance of the song here.”

Sharoff, a composer and lyricist better known by his stage name Mitchell Jay, wrote “One Song” in the 1990s, also inspired by “We Are the World.

“I wanted to write a song with similar beliefs – world togetherness, peace, love,” he said. “It’s been performed in many places in the United States, from New York to California, and also globally, in India and England. I am so humbled that anyone would want to perform the song.”

After securing Sharoff’s support, Gilad needed to find the 300 voices she had envisioned as well as a choir director. Choosing a choir director was a daunting task, she said, since there are so many talented ones in the Village.

“I did not want to choose someone and then hurt someone else’s feelings here,” she said. “The best solution was to look for someone on the outside.”

She found a director in Leeav Sofer, a musician whose resume includes a professorship at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Sofer also brings music programs into underserved Los Angeles communities, and he founded Urban Voices, a nonprofit designed to bring choral music to the unhoused as well as to shelters, clinics and libraries in L.A. and Orange County.

“Rebeca brought the song and asked if I could teach and direct a choir,” Sofer said.

The size of the Village choir posed no problem for him: “the larger the group, the better,” he said. “There will be leadership among peers, section leaders; the more experienced can guide the less experienced.

“We are not here for the art but the emotion,” he added.

Sofer taught the choir vocal pronunciation and enunciation as well as proper singing posture and breathing technique. Then he divided the singers into voice groups – soprano, alto, tenor and baritone, with each assigned their own passage of “One Song.” The chorus was sung by all.

Musical director Carmen Pacella led the band, with piano, two electric guitars, a lap steel guitar and drums. Sharone Rosen on acoustic guitar provided musical cues to the choir segments. Sharoff played the keyboards, and Rabbi Joe Mendelsohn provided the rhythm on a djembe-type drum.

Save for Sharoff and Mendelsohn, the musicians were handpicked from the Village’s All Musicians Club, said Pacella, a bass player and the club’s president.

“Putting our sound together, we used the recording that Mitchell did 15 years ago,” Pacella said. “The recording had a country sound, and we are emulating that with the instruments. Musicians had to learn the music, get along well and commit for three days.”

After two afternoons of rehearsal, the ensemble was ready for taping by a crew from Village TV.

As the colorful group piled out of the Performing Arts Center after the taping, Sheinwold summed up the project: “I have never seen a gathering like that in the Village before. There was so much enjoyment and so much good will radiating from everyone.”

Said Sofer, “This experience was a prime example of how music equalizes all of us, celebrating our diversity while mixing our voices together.”