Measha Brueggergosman & Andreas Kern in AMREF Benefit Concert in Toronto Oct. 17

Dr. Chris Foley is on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, writes the Collaborative Piano Blog, operates a Pageflakes page which provides access to posts on more than 200 classical music blogs,is involved theatre and opera, and has been a good friend to AfriClassical since its launch two years ago. He sent us the link to this post, which we have chosen to republish, on a benefit concert by the African Canadian opera singer Measha Brueggergosman:

Collaborative Piano Blog
Friday, October 09, 2009
An Evening With Measha Brueggergosman and Andreas Kern on October 17 in Toronto: All Proceeds Will Go To AMREF Canada
On Saturday, October 17 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian, Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman, in recital with pianist Andreas Kern, will be making her only 2009 Toronto concert appearance in a benefit for the African Medical and Research Foundation. The performance will start at 5pm, and the evening's festivities will be presided over by Jian Ghomeshi, host of Q on CBC Radio One.This is a very important fundraising event for AMREF Canada, whose mission is to raise funds in order create and build health infrastructure in African communities. All revenues from this event will be going to AMREF Canada, so your support will be able to help sustain and build on the vitally important work that this organization does in improving the health of African communities.Tickets for the recital are $125/60, or $175 including an invite to the VIP reception following, with students receiving a 50% discount on all tickets.

This will also be a prime opportunity to hear the playing of German pianist Andreas Kern. From the AMREF press release:
Pianist Andreas Kern is Measha’s co-host on “Arte Lounge”, a TV show that promotes classical music in Germany. Mr. Kern flew in specifically for this concert. He studied at the Privatinstitut für pianistische Studien in Dusseldorf and later on at the renowned Hochschule der Künste. As a soloist, Andreas has performed in concerts around the world, including in Germany, Italy, India and Japan. He has performed with several orchestras, including the Hannover Philharmonie, Kottmann Stringorchestra and the Aachen Youth Orchestra. He has also performed contemporary music for a radio concert series for the German radio station, WDR. Since 1999 he has been the artistic director of Sommernachtstraum Arts Festival in Berlin. A versatile performer, Andreas recorded film scores composed by Christian Biegai for the upcoming DVD release “Croatian Fairytales from Long Ago”, directed by Helena Bulaja. In 2004, he was the collaborative pianist for the acclaimed Sasha Waltz Dance Company in the South of France. In the same year he performed Mozart at the “Wiener Festwochen“. He was also been invited to serve on the Jury of the prestigious Steinway Competition for 2006 in Berlin. In the same year he produced his own classic show for Arte TV which was aired in May 2007. He also performed twice his new show of "Dolce&Ciabatta" for the German EU-Presidency.