LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackson Browne and Lizz Wright will perform a benefit concert at The Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles for Success Through The Arts Foundation and the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center on Saturday, June 9, 2012. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 27th through Ticketmaster.  Premium benefit seating is available through www.sttaf.org.

Generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, American jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter will be presented the Dream Believe Achieve award at the benefit concert.  Students from both Success Through The Arts and the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center will also perform.  

Success Through The Arts Foundation provides a performing arts education to over 800 students in South Los Angeles through their After-School, Saturday, and Summer programs.  They utilize performing arts such as band, dance, and theater as a catalyst to propel students forward and enable them to lead rich, productive lives.  In an area where the graduation rate is well below 40%, 100% of the seniors who have participated in Success Through The Arts programs are graduating and attending college.  

The Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center provides superior arts instruction to under-served students in the heart of Leimert Park in South Los Angeles under the direction of Fernando Pullum.  In an area where the surrounding schools offer little or no performing arts programs, the Center provides free, high quality after-school arts instruction in guitar, piano, drama, film, and recording.  "Fernando's passion coupled with his incredible arts curriculum gives these kids a sense of self-esteem and invaluable personal growth. Arts education should be a part of every child's school experience. It's a well-documented fact that studying music aids in the development of all kinds of cognitive skills.  Fernando's programs connect the students to the broader spectrum of their lives' possibilities, and that's what makes his work so vital," says Jackson Browne.

For tickets and information visit: www.sttaf.org

About the performers:

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics. He was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2007.

Beyond his music, Browne is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights, and arts education. He's a co-founder of the groups Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), Nukefree.org, and Success Through The Arts Foundation, which provides education opportunities for students in South Los Angeles.

Lizz Wright

Her debut album, Salt (2003), introduced Wright as both an accomplished songwriter and an effortlessly magnetic performer, delivering subtly persuasive performances in understated jazz/R&B settings.  Salt won international acclaim and was praised by The New York Times' Stephen Holden, who wrote that Wright's "astonishing maturity and poise stirs jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues into a reflective, flowing style that elongates songs into prayerful meditations...," and described her singing as "pitch-perfect, with a smoky, full-bodied texture... impressive in its steadiness, control and rhythmic subtlety."

Dreaming Wide Awake followed in 2005, expanding Wright's interpretive range on a broad array of material ranging from Fats Waller to Neil Young and reached the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. Her third release, The Orchard (2008), was largely self-penned as she continued to mine her own experiences to create an unmistakably personal musical statement.

Wright's newest recording, Fellowship (2010), continues her genre-defying journey, a nod to her roots in gospel on the one hand and her gospel of eclecticism on the other.

About the organizations:

Success Through The Arts

Founded in 2000, the mission of Success Through The Arts Foundation is to utilize performing arts programs as a means of enhancing self-esteem, academic achievement, self-discipline and social responsibility for K-12 students in South Los Angeles.  An arts education can ignite a passion within each student for the arts as a whole, and, more importantly, it can serve as a tool to foster those things at the heart of our mission statement: self-esteem and academic achievement.  Our After-School, Saturday, and Summer students go on to graduate from high school, attend four year colleges, and many come back to teach the next generation of students in South LA.

The Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center

The Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center provides quality arts instruction to under-served students in South Central Los Angeles. Through a program of exceptional instruction, curriculum and performance, students build self-esteem and develop a sense of civic responsibility.  Our strategy is to present unique, culturally enriching programs and performances, provide our students with access to community service opportunities that serve our neighborhood, and promote academic achievement through our arts curriculum and tutoring program with the goal of each student raising his or her grade point average.

SOURCE Jackson Browne