Proceeds from Sept. 16 Furgason Bravo! Series Concert to Benefit Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina
Free concert for evacuees also planned

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Foundation is stepping up to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina by underwriting the concert and donating the proceeds from the University’s first Furgason Bravo! Series concert to a scholarship fund for displaced students who have been admitted to the University. To date, six students have been accepted and will be provided with scholarships as well as emergency financial assistance.  

On Friday, Sept. 16 the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Foundation Katrina Relief Benefit Concert presenting Orange Kellin’s New Orleans Blue Serenaders Featuring Vernel Bagneris will take place in the University’s Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Earlier, Kellin and his trio will perform a private concert for evacuees who are currently in area shelters. Mr. Kellin's group and his management, Art Fegan Entertainment, Inc., are waiving their fees to provide this free concert. The Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority will provide free transportation for the evacuees.

“All of us are acutely aware of the sadness and misery Katrina has wrought,” said University President Flavius Killebrew.  “Our city has stepped up, providing shelter and food for approximately 1,400 of those victims.  Now we want to provide an uplifting moment for these persons. They will be bussed to our Performing Arts Center where they can enjoy the music of their home city.  This concert will be a viable reminder that the spirit of New Orleans is alive in spite of the ongoing crisis.” 

From the Broadway production of One Mo' Time, music arranger and clarinetist Kellin brings a trio of hot New Orleans musicians – piano, clarinet, and percussion, along with the creator and director of One Mo' Time, the legendary song-and-dance man Vernel Bagneris. Bagneris had a starring role in the film Pennies from Heaven with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters and was the choreographer for the Oscar-winning film Ray.

Tickets for the benefit concert are available at Ticketweb or by calling toll-free 1-866-468-7621. Performing Arts Center box office hours are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday. Cash, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are accepted.  For more information call 825-ARTS.