Club Passim Presents: Concert for Kosovo

Sanders Theater, Harvard University, August 19,, 1999, 7:30 pm

The 1999 Concert for Kosovo was organized by Boston-area volunteers to raise funds for organizations that provided humanitarian assistance and human rights documentation in Kosovo. The concert raised $30,000 for Oxfam America, Physicians for Human Rights and The International Rescue Committee, three non-profits agencies with offices in the Boston area. Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel and Hasbro, Inc Chairman and CEO Alan Hassenfeld were the honorary co-chairs of the event. .

The Concert for Kosovo was MC’d by comedian Jimmy Tingle and featured performances by:

·         Zabe i Babe - (literally “frogs and grandmothers”) Formed by Sarajevo native Minja Lausevic, Zabe i Babe features Balkan vocals in overdrive. Sing Out! Magazine says, “Exploding with passion, Zabe i Babe mixes wild abandon with a raucously good time.”

·         Ellis Paul - Ten-time Boston Music Award winner and Rounder recording artist Ellis Paul was heralded by the Boston Globe as “a national folk star and the quintessential Boston songwriter.”

·         Walter Robinson and his Gospel Ensemble - Composer Walter Robinson's musical MOSES sold out its performances at the Emerson Majestic Theater.  His gospel ensemble tours nationally.

·         Catie Curtis - Deemed “a folk-rock goddess” by The New Yorker, Catie Curtis has headlined the Newport Folk Festival, performed in the Lilith Fair and toured with Mary Chapin Carpenter.

·         Five O'Clock Shadow - The three-time Contemporary A Cappella Award nominated ensemble Five O'Clock Shadow has appeared on the Conan O'Brien show and performed with the Boston Pops.

·         Greg Greenway – “A major talent” (Boston Phoenix), Eastern Front Recording Artist Greg Greenway plays with “foot-stomping passion” (Boston Globe).  Greenway has performed at Carnegie Hall and around the world.

According to Physicians for Human Rights, in 1999, over 100 medical clinics were destroyed in Kosovo. The United Nations reported that almost half of the schools in the province were severely destroyed or damaged and that 50% of the houses were damaged. Much of the water supply across the region was contaminated according to Oxfam America, the lead organization that provided purified drinking water to refugees throughout Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania. As the international community grappled with how to implement peace in the Balkans, humanitarian aid and support for human rights was needed to rebuild the province and assist refugees who had resettled in the United States. The International Rescue Committee assisted Kosovar refugees in the Boston area.

The sponsoring organization for Concert for Kosovo, Club Passim, is a non-profit dedicated to preserving and nurturing emerging and established artists.  Passim Board President David Herlihy noted, “The club has sponsored dozens of benefits over its long history. The Concert for Kosovo fits right into our mission.” A number of Kosovar refugees in the Boston area attended the Concert for Kosovo thanks to generous local donors. The event was sponsored in part by the Hasbro Charitable Trust.

Following the concert, Oxfam America, Physicians for Human Rights, The International Rescue Committee Boston and Club Passim named the concert producers and volunteers “Community Leaders of the Year” for 1999.

Concert for Kosovo producers: Shana Burg, Bram De Veer, Charan Devereaux and Elizabeth Mitchell

Club Passim presents: Concert for Kosovo

Honorary Committee (1999)

Elie Wiesel, Honorary Co-Chair

1986 Nobel Peace Laureate, University Professor, Boston University

Alan Hassenfeld, Honorary Co-Chair

Chairman and CEO, Hasbro, Inc.

John Pierre Ameer, Assistant Professor of Education, Simmons College

Ruth A. Barron, MD, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Physicians for Human Rights Volunteer and Kosovo Investigator

Derek Bok, Professor and Former President, Harvard University

Lou Casagrande, President, The Boston Children’s Museum

Susan Clare, Executive Director, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, Board Member, Oxfam America

Jeff Crown, Vice President of Corporate and Business Development, Lycos, Inc.   

Gary Eichhorn, President and CEO, Open Market, Inc.

Carola Eisenberg, MD, Harvard Medical School, Founding Member of Physicians for Human Rights

Jack Galvin, Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Carol Gilligan, Patricia Albjerg Graham Professor of Gender Studies in Education, Harvard University

Hurst Hannum, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Howard Hiatt, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Member of the Board of Directors, Physicians for Human Rights

Stacey Kabat, Founder and Co-Chair, Peace at Home, 1992 Winner of the Reebok Human Rights Award

Linda Kaboolian, Associate Professor, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Jennifer Leaning, MD, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Member of the Board of Directors of Physicians for Human Rights, Kosovo Investigator

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education, Harvard University

Winston Lord, Vice Chairman of the Board, International Rescue Committee

Martha Minow, Professor, Harvard Law School

Bill Nowlin, Director, Rounder Records

Raymond Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America

Samantha Power, Executive Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Jason Rich, President, Teen Talk Communications

Reverend Eugene F. Rivers 3d, Pastor of the Azusa Christian Community and Co-Chair of the National TenPoint Leadership Foundation

Walter Robinson, Composer

Don Rose, President, Rykodisc

Laura Rozen, Balkans Correspondent, Salon Magazine

Leonard Rubenstein, JD, Executive Director, Physicians for Human Rights

Cynthia Ryan, Administrator, The Schooner Foundation

Barbara Thomas-Slayter, Director and Professor, Program for International Development and Social Change, Clark University, Oxfam America Board Member

Margot Stern Strom, Executive Director, Facing History and Ourselves

Timothy White, Editor-in-Chief, Billboard Magazine

John C. Whitehead, Chairman of the Board, International Rescue Committee