Music connects us all,” says Kenny Day, Washington Flyer publisher and organizer of a Hurricane Katrina relief concert tomorrow evening. “Singin’ the Blues for the Delta” features the lower-case blues at the Grog and Tankard on Wisconsin Avenue. That’s just one of the many events right here in D.C. beginning today with an all-day fundraiser at the Canadian Embassy, and then tonight there’s a reception hosted by the Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi State Societies at the Jones-Day Building to raise money for hurricane victims.
… and continue with opera, Placido or Rush
The Washington National Opera inaugurates its golden anniversary season with a dress rehearsal of Verdi’s “I Vespri Siciliani” conducted by General Director Placido Domingo on Sept. 14. Proceeds go to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. And radio talkmeister Rush Limbaugh has jumped on the bandwagon as well, hosting a one-man benefit performance for hurricane victims on Oct. 18 at the New Amsterdam Theater in Manhattan.
Here’s one quick response
A couple familiar to many on Capitol Hill – Charlie Davis, who was with Voter.com in D.C., and his wife, Ellen Wray, who was an aide to former Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., until moving to Baton Rouge, La., last February and is now executive director of the Louisiana GOP – teamed up with another caring gal Billie Brown – she took in a family she met in a parking lot – to form Operation: Share Your Home (www.shareyourhome.org). They match people who are willing to open their homes to displaced families with those in need. They didn’t waste any time – they were the first organization to incorporate in Louisiana after the hurricane and have had tremendous success.
Our favorite news prisoner
Incarcerated New York Times reporter Judith Miller continues to have high-powered visitors at the Alexandria Detention Center. Journalists William Safire and Barbara Walters are on the list of those given permission to visit. Walters has told friends she felt a bond with Miller because their fathers both ran nightclubs.
KennCen honorees: It’s official
The Kennedy Center has finally announced its long-awaited list of 2005 honorees: singer Tony Bennett (as we told you in this column the other day); dancer and teacher Suzanne Farrell; actress Julie Harris; actor, director and producer Robert Redford; and singer Tina Turner. The Honors weekend, Dec. 3 and 4, is one to which politicians and arts aficionados alike look forward. For the first time, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host the dinner at the State Department Dec. 3. President and Mrs. Bush will welcome the honorees at the White House the following afternoon before the 28th annual gala.
Vargas, Longoria to be feted
Cuban singer/songwriter Albita is booked to entertain guests at the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts 2005 Noche De Gala at the Mayflower Hotel on Tuesday. ABC News anchor Elizabeth Vargas will receive the Raul Julia Award for her work in advancing the presence of Latinos on TV. Eva Longoria of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” gets the NHFA’s Horizon Award honoring breakthrough Latino artists in pop culture. Jimmy Smits, one of the founders of the organization, is expected to be on hand.