EMMYLOU HARRIS CONFIRMS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH STEVE EARLE, PATTY GRIFFIN, BUDDY MILLER AND THE MILK CARTON KIDS TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR REFUGEES
Grammy Award-winning artists Emmylou Harris confirms a North American tour this fall with special guests Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and The Milk Carton Kids (not all artists will appear at all venues). The 11-stop tour, Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees, will raise awareness for the unprecedented worldwide refugee crisis.
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS) announced today that it 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 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 concert tour will be in the below cities:
October 6—Boulder, Colorado—Boulder Theater
October 8—Kansas City, Missouri—Helzberg Hall
October 9—Lincoln, Nebraska—Rococo Theater
October 11—St. Louis, Missouri—Sheldon Concert Hall
October 12—Milwaukee, Wisconsin—Pabst Theater
October 13—Chicago, Illinois—Vic Theater
October 14—Toronto, Ontario—Massey Hall
October 16—Boston, Massachusetts—Berklee Performance Center
October 18—New York City, New York—Town Hall
October 19—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—Merriam Theater
October 21—Washington, D.C.—Lisner Auditorium
Everyone’s journey begins somewhere – and for some that journey 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 www.jrsusa.org/lampedusa.
About Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic non-governmental organization whose mission is to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons in more than 45 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit www.jrsusa.org.