Look To The Stars News: Placido Domingo

José Carreras To Perform Benefit Concert Down Under

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:00:00 -0000

World renown opera singer Jose Carreras will perform a one-off charity concert in New Zealand next month.

The singer will perform at Elephant Hill Estate & Winery located in Te Awanga, Hawke’s Bay, in the North Island of the country to benefit the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation, New Zealand’s leading resource of information specifically for patients, family members and friends affected by leukaemia and related blood conditions.

Gifted with a beautiful voice, José Carreras is considered one of the world’s greatest tenors and opera singers of his generation. With a phenomenal international performance career spanning over three decades and including recognition as one of the famous Three Tenors with Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras continues to mesmerize audiences with his sublime tenor voice.

Carreras is a survivor of Leukaemia himself, and set up the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation after recovering from the disease in 1987.

The singer also recently contributed to a recipe book created to raise funds for the Treetops Hospice in England. Along with comedian Jo Brand and several other celebrities, Carreras donated a recipe to “Helen’s Book”, which was written in memory of professional opera singer and enthusiastic amateur cook Helen Beechinor of Derbyshire, who died of Breast Cancer last year.

Proceeds from the book will go towards a new centre so that it can double the number of people the hospice helps.

Helen’s Book costs £7.99 and is available at Waterstone’s bookstores in the UK.

Tickets to the benefit concert in New Zealand – which takes place on January 31 – are available here.

Dave Dobbyn Promotes Hearing Awareness In Fiji

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

You may have heard of Heal The World – well, now some of the world’s greatest musicians are taking part in a campaign to raise awareness of hearing loss called Hear The World.

Hear the World is an initiative by Phonak – a leading manufacturer of hearing aids – that aims to raise awareness of the topic of hearing and hearing loss and to promote good hearing all over the world, and musician Dave Dobbyn spent the weekend in Fiji doing exactly that.

“I see other people who support ‘Hear the World’ like Harry Belafonte, Annie Lennox, Placido Domingo,” said 51-year-old Dobbyn, whose new album, Anotherland, has just been released. “I’m in great company when we’re all thinking about our ears and our health. Your ears get fatigued like every organ in your body so to treat them with respect and keep the volume down.”

One in five children in Fiji are profoundly deaf, and there is no audiology service in the South Pacific nation – children with hearing loss are often not diagnosed until they reach school.

“A child needs to be able to hear sounds in the environment to hear speech and language in order to produce speech and to develop language,” said Logan McMeekin, a Phonak Audiologist who is fitting hearing aids – free-of-charge – to children affected by hearing loss in Fiji. “Our goal isn’t to restore normal hearing we try and give them cues for awareness of their environment so they’re able to be safe in their environment.”

Dave Dobbyn – who has had 10 songs in New Zealand’s Top 100 Songs of All Time, including Loyal and Slice of Heaven – joins a long list of celebrities who support the Hear The World campaign. Amy Winehouse, Annie Lennox, Bobby McFerrin, Michael Buble, Common, Dave Stewart, Dionne Warwick, Franka Potente, Josh Groban, Jerry Hall, Harry Belafonte, Joss Stone, Chad Kroeger, Diane Kruger, Lindsay Lohan, Moby, Placido Domingo, Kelly Osbourne, Eric Roberts, and Rod Stewart are all ambassadors for the initiative, whose goal is to educate the general public about the importance of hearing, the social and emotional impacts and the benefits of available solutions for those with hearing loss. Rocker Bryan Adams is the official photographer for the campaign, and his photos of the ambassadors can be seen on the campaign’s website.

Dave Dobbyn’s message is simple – don’t take it for granted because the ability to hear is a gift. To see a video of him performing for Fijian schoolchildren, click here. To learn more about Hear The World, visit www.hear-the-world.com.

Michael Schumacher Gets Revved Up For Football

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Motor racing legend Michael Schumacher has helped a Formula 1 team take on a Hungarian All Stars XI in a charity football match in Budapest.

The 39-year-old former Formula 1 champion led his team – which also included current F1 drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Nico Rosberg and was coached by opera legend Placido Domingo – to a 6-6 draw in front of 10,000 at the home of Hungarian club Ferencvaros. The Hungarian national team coach, Erwin Koeman, was in charge of the All Stars.

Bulgarian businessman Daniel Borimirov was in the team with Schumacher, but was less than impressed with the driver’s ability to kick a ball.

“Schumi was quite tired,” joked Borimirov. “He is crazy about motors and was driving all day on the track. I felt embarrassed because of his misses.”

Proceeds from the game will go to a Hungarian children’s hospital.

Look To The Stars News: Placido Domingo

José Carreras To Perform Benefit Concert Down Under

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