CORONA, Calif., June 22, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Country music legend Merle Haggard and his band, the Strangers, will headline a benefit concert at the Fender Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, June 30.
WHAT: Kids Rock Free Benefit Concert WHO: Merle Haggard WHERE: The Fender Center for the Performing Arts in Corona WHEN: Thursday, June 30, 8 p.m.
Proceeds from the concert will help support the Center's innovative and very successful Kids Rock Free program, which provides free and low-cost music education to more than 400 children.
The concert will also include performances by student musicians and Noel Haggard, Merle's son.
"This wonderful event brings together in one venue a music legend and musicians of the future," said Danny Verdugo, president of the Fender Foundation, which owns and operates the Fender Center. "We can't thank Merle Haggard enough for helping this great cause and sharing his music with people of the Inland Empire."
Blackout, a six-piece rock band made up of center students, will open the concert, which starts at 8 p.m. They will be followed by Liisa Sukovich and Katie Kendrick, center students performing on acoustic guitars.
Noel Haggard will precede his world-famous father, known in music circles as the "common man's poet."
Tickets for the festival-style event range from $32.50 to $100 and can be purchased at the Fender Center's box office at 365 N. Main Street, two blocks north of the Main Street exit on the 91 Freeway, online at www.fendercenter.org, www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling (951) 735-2440 extension 102.
Sponsors include Altura Credit Union, Guaranty Bank and Lewis Operating Co.
Founded in 1997, the Fender Center for the Performing Arts has provided low-cost music education to more than 8,500 children aged 7-17. The center includes a world-class museum and educational facilities that celebrate the performing arts. For more information, go to http://www.fendercenter.org