Benefit Concert for Ugandan AIDS Orphans

Port Townsend Saxophone Quartet

On Sunday, June 14 at 4 p.m., some of the area’s most talented musicians will come together for a benefit concert at the First Presbyterian Church, 1111 Franklin St., Port Townsend. In its 15^th year, the concert that has been organized by pianist Lisa Lanza will support 27 young Ugandan AIDS orphans. Without your support, many of these vulnerable children would face lives marked by poverty, exploitation and the devastating effects of AIDS.

This year’s performers include the Port Townsend String Sextet, marimba virtuoso Robert Blomster, the PT Saxophone Quartet, pianists Lisa Lanza, Michael Carroll and Elise Sinclair, soprano Jeannie Oneppo, the All City Choir, and the Port Townsend Youth Chorus. Highlights include Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, featuring violin soloist Karl Perry, along with works by Ravel, Chopin, Piazzolla, Bernstein and Gershwin.

Lanza’s annual concert provides nearly one-third of the funding needed to support these young scholars, a major mission of Grace Lutheran Church since 2002. Over the years, approximately 70 orphans have graduated from the program and gone on to careers as teachers, social workers, electricians, hairdressers, woodworkers, nurses, midwives and physicians. Several have ranked among Uganda’s top students on national exams, earning government-funded university scholarships.

Doors open at 3:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $20 to $25 for adults. Children are admitted free. For more information, please contact Beth deJarnette Bowman at bdejarnette360@hotmail.com or call 360-531-3205.