Board of Directors

Bob Engelman
President

Howard Engelman
Founding President
In Memorium

Erin Prouty
Chairperson

George Beck
Treasurer

Laura Mills
Secretary

Bob Mills
Cary Belling
Robert C. Bruce
Staphanie Klopfleisch
Roy Lewis, Ph.D.
Jamiela Self

Advisory Board

Ki Saing Bai
Judith Karen Baker
Annelise B. Bunzel
Mary Levin Cutler
Phillis Diller
Edmund Edelman*
Morton A. Heller
W. Edgar Jessup, Jr.
Deborah Kreingel
Mitchell Lurie
Irene M. Oppenheim
Paul Oppenheim
Dori Pye
Bill Rosendahl*
Esther Smith
Edi Steel
Bob Steele
Jeorge A. Taylor
Zev Yaroslavsky*

Alvin M. Mills
Permanent Conductor and Music Director

Cary Belling
Assistant Conductor

*Honorary Members

Our Founder and Conductor

Alvin Mills, Founder/Music Director of the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony Orchestra, studied with Pierre Monteux at the Ecole Monteux, Hancock, ME. He attended UCLA, the Academy of the West and Mount St. Mary's College, where he earned his Master's Degree in Music.

Mills began studying the violin at the age of eight with Julian Brodetsky and later with Peter Meremblum at USC. As a violinist, Alvin Mills was a performing member of the Kansas City Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony where he played under the direction of Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, Efrem Kurtz, Eugene Ormandy and others.

From 1949 to 1953 Mills was Founder/Conductor of the Lompoc California Symphony. The Brentwood-Westwood Symphony was founded in 1953 and many great artists have appeared as soloists under the direction of Maestro Mills.

Mills champions the talented youth of our nation and presents programs each season for the young. He has stated that these young talents are "treasures of today that we should encourage, honor, and support wholeheartedly."

In 1994, Mr. Mills initiated a Music Education Outreach Program which brings music right into the classrooms of those schools where music has been deleted from the curriculum. The purpose is to acquaint young people with the heritage of the Great Masters and help build an interest in classical and contemporary music.

From 1994 to 2002 we played to some 11,000 children of the inner cities and Westside public schools. The model proved very successful and the Outreach Program is continuing into its twelfth year.

Maestro Mills is a member of ASCAP and the National Association of Composers, USA. He was honored with the Maurice Buerge Community Recognition Award in the form of a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Rotary Club of West Los Angeles/ Brentwood for outstanding service to the community.

On October 11, 2002, the 50th Anniversary Concert was held at Schoenberg Hall, UCLA. Maestro Mills was presented awards by Viet Tran, Westside Deputy of former Mayor James K. Hahn, from County Supervisor, The Hon. Zev Yaroslavsky, and former Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

This past year Mr. Mills was interviewed by the Oral History Program of UCLA which has been placed in their archives together with other world famous personalities. 

Mr. Mills is president of Horizons Unlimited Publications Co. (ASCAP).

Our Assistant Conductor

For the past 25 years, Cary Belling has been active in Southern California as a conductor, composer, violinist and teacher. He is a member of the California Philharmonic and also works as a performer in the film industry. He has served, as an assistant conductor with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, the University Synagogue Chamber Orchestra, and is currently assistant conductor of the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony.  He holds a masters degree in conducting from California State University at Northridge and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin.