Emmylou Harris begins Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees with Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and The Milk Carton Kids in Boulder tonight; Robert Plant will join starting October 12. The tour, which benefits Jesuit Refugee Service/USA's educational programs for refugees around the world, will stop in Kansas City, Lincoln, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and DC. "After witnessing firsthand the work of JRS in Ethiopia this past June, I have never been more inspired to champion such a critical cause," said Harris. "The better angels of our nature call upon us to act with compassion and not with fear in the face of so much suffering."
Emmylou Harris begins a North American tour with Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and The Milk Carton Kids at the Boulder Theater in Colorado tonight (not all artists will appear at all venues); Robert Plant will join starting October 12. The 11-stop tour, Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees, will raise awareness for the unprecedented worldwide refugee crisis. The tour makes stops in Kansas City, Lincoln, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia before culminating with a concert at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC, on October 21. See below for details or visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS) will host this singer/songwriter tour in support of the organization's Global Education Initiative, which was launched in 2015 and endorsed by Pope Francis. JRS seeks to double the number of refugees served in its educational programs to 240,000 by 2020.
"After witnessing firsthand the work of JRS in Ethiopia this past June, I have never been more inspired to champion such a critical cause," said Emmylou Harris, 13-time Grammy Award–winning artist. "The better angels of our nature call upon us to act with compassion and not with fear in the face of so much suffering."
In an effort to shed light on the plight of the more than 65 million refugees worldwide and the need to raise funds to support refugee education. The journey for some includes Lampedusa, an Italian island off the coast of Sicily that serves as a waypoint in a refugee's search for safety and security.
JRS works in more than 45 countries worldwide to meet the educational, health, social, and other needs of many of these refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. The scale of this humanitarian crisis is staggering: one in every 122 people is a refugee. More than half are women and children; at least 30 million are under the age of 18.
"We are ready to bring this critical issue to the stage and help people understand that education provides a path forward in life for refugees," said Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki S.J., the President of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. "Most people don't realize that refugees spend an average of 17 years displaced from their homes and many never return. It's time to take bold action and our Lampedusa concert tour will help us do so."
Funds raised by Lampedusa will support educational programs for refugees around the world. "Education is the one life-saving intervention given to a refugee that cannot be taken away," notes JRS International Director Fr. Thomas H. Smolich S.J.
For more information about Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees, visit jrsusa.org/lampedusa.
LAMPEDUSA: CONCERTS FOR REFUGEES
| Oct 6 | Boulder Theater | Boulder, CO |
| Oct 8 | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts | Kansas City, MO |
| Oct 9 | Rococo Theater | Lincoln, NE |
| Oct 11 | Sheldon Concert Hall | St. Louis, MO |
| Oct 12 | Pabst Theater* | Milwaukee, WI |
| Oct 13 | Vic Theater* | Chicago, IL |
| Oct 14 | Massey Hall* | Toronto, ON |
| Oct 16 | Berklee Performance Center* | Boston, MA |
| Oct 18 | The Town Hall* | New York, NY |
| Oct 19 | Merriam Theater* | Philadelphia, PA |
| Oct 21 | Lisner Auditorium* | Washington, DC |
* w/Robert Plant
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