Portland Artists and Performers Rally to the Cause of Katrina Relief: PAPA Invites the Public To Have a Good Time for a Good Cause
Portland Artists for Positive Action (PAPA) presents a Hurricane Katrina benefit to begin on Tuesday and conclude with major events on the weekend.
Portland, OR (PRWEB) September 21, 2005
Over the course of this week and concluding on Friday and Saturday nights, Portland Artists for Positive Action (PAPA) will offer an extraordinary series of events to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. PAPA, a new organization formed for the express purpose of providing financial support to frontline disaster relief agencies, will host an exciting succession of dinners and performances at the historic Melody Ballroom. A buffet dinner will be served that will reflect the great tradition of New Orleans classic down home cuisine – from red beans and rice to Jambalaya. The musicians and dancers scheduled to showcase their talents to help those in need are among the best Portland has to offer.
Included in the stellar line-up:
Valerie Day, a critic’s favorite and one of Portland’s leading jazz singers, noted for her originality and versatility Michael Allen Harrison, a multi-talented, world class producer, composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, and concert pianist Tobaj, an internationally-known jazz/Latin Singer, guitarist, songwriter and recording artist John Stowell, an internationally acclaimed innovator on the jazz guitar Daniel Crothers, one of Portland’s finest singer-songwriters and jazz pianists Dorothy Sermol, one of Oregon’s leading opera singers whose repertoire embraces a wide rage of styles and songs form a variety of cultures • The Polaris Dance Theater, a young modern dance ensemble now gaining international acclaim under the direction of award-winning choreographer Robert Guitron
Hurricane Katrina brought extraordinary death and destruction to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The story will soon fade from the headlines but the work of providing health care, reconstruction and renewal will continue. Now as never before the people of the entire region will need help. Millions across the globe are responding the worst natural disaster in U. S. history with their hearts and their checkbooks. Portlanders are no different. New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf region have helped form the bedrock of America’s music and culture. They are essential to who and what we are as a people. It’s only right that Portland artists -- as are their colleagues from all over the world and every part of the United States – come forward to help raise funds in to help those in immediate need and also to support the recovery effort. People from throughout the greater Portland metropolitan area are expected to turn out to show their support.
All proceeds will be divided between the Northwest Medical Teams (http://www. nwmedicalteams. org/ (http://www. nwmedicalteams. org/)) and Mercy Corps (http://www. mercycorps. org/ (http://www. mercycorps. org/)), two Portland emergency health care services well known for the relief they provide worldwide following human catastrophes caused by war or natural disaster. They are both frontline providers of medical care and social services in the wake of human catastrophe. The benefit is made possible by the generous support of the Melody Ballroom and its staff. The buffet dinner will be served Tuesday through Saturday from 6-8 pm. Entertainment will begin a 9 pm in the lower ballroom. Featured performers will take the stage in the main ballroom beginning at 7 pm. The atmosphere will be kid-friendly and families are encouraged to join in the festivities.
Please see the full schedule of events at www. polarisdance. org or call our Entertainment Hotline at 503.235.0535 for the nightly schedule. For additional information, please call Sara Anderson at 503-380-5472.
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