Eastman Showcase 2005
Benefiting from Beddage
When jazz saxophonist Shirantha Beddage returned to his hometown of North Bay, Ontario, last month, he did much more than pay a visit. On February 26, Shirantha and the other Eastman graduate students in his quartet — pianist Michael Stryker, drummer Devin Kelly, and bassist Ryan Kotler — performed in a benefit concert in support of the Sri Lanka Lions Club home-building projects in tsunami-affected areas. Besides raising the roof, the concert raised $7000 from North Bay residents, enough money to pay for three new homes for families in Sri Lanka.
This is not the first tsunami relief project for Shirantha, whose sax playing has been featured on Canadian and American jazz radio, and who appears on several recent CDs. He played a fundraiser in Rochester in January, and takes part in a “Hearts for the Arts” tsunami benefit at New York’s Third Street Music School Settlement on March 13. You can read more about Shirantha’s upcoming gigs at www.shiranthabeddage.com.