Hurricane Katrina Relief Concert "Higher Ground" Simulacast Live on Philadelphia Public Radio

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Created on Tuesday, 13 September 2005 16:25

Elvis Costello, Norah Jones and Paul Simon are some of the many musicians scheduled to perform during Higher Ground: A Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert on Saturday, September 17 at 8 p.m. Philadelphia-area public radio stations WHYY (90.9 FM), WRTI (90.1 FM) and WXPN (88.5 FM) will simultaneously broadcast the five-hour music event, which is a fundraiser to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Higher Ground will also be broadcast on WHYY TV12 at 8 p.m.

New Orleans’ native son, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, will headline the event. Other musicians scheduled to perform during Higher Ground are Jon Hendricks, Diana Krall, Paquito D’Rivera, James Taylor and Buckwheat Zydeco. Joining them on stage will be actor Laurence Fishburne, who will emcee the concert, along with Terence Blanchard, Ken Burns, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep.

WHYY’s Director of Radio Programming Christine Dempsey, together with WXPN Program Director Bruce Warren and WRTI Program Director Jack Moore, said they hope their broadcasts of Higher Ground will encourage listeners to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The radio broadcast will be co-hosted by NPR’s Korva Coleman and Gary Walker of New York NPR affiliate WGBO. Higher Ground compact discs will be produced and released by Blue Note Records, which will donate all profits to Katrina relief funds.

WHYY, as the region’s premiere public broadcast station, is what a diverse community has in common. WHYY, through television, radio, the web and other communications services, makes our region a better place, connecting each of us to the world’s richest ideas and all of us to each other.

A broadcast service of Temple University, WRTI’s primary mission is to broadcast classical and jazz music that entertains listeners and enriches the cultural life and literacy of the Greater Philadelphia Region.

WXPN 88.5 FM is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania and the premier source for an eclectic and inspiring mix of music including rock, blues, roots and folk. WXPN produces the nationally syndicated World Cafe, public radio’s most popular program of popular music hosted by David Dye, and the Peabody Award winning Kids Corner hosted by Kathy O’Connell. WXPN serves the greater Philadelphia area at 88.5 FM, the Lehigh Valley at 104.9 FM, Worton/Baltimore at 90.5 FM, and Harrisburg at 88.1 FM. It is also available via online streaming at xpn.org.

Contact:
Debby Seitz, WXPN
215.573.3342