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BMW Performance Series Shines Spotlight on Urban Arts & Entertainment: Program to Benefit Community Scholarship Funds & Music Education
BMW of North America, LLC announced the launch of its BMW Performance Series, an urban arts and entertainment program that includes the 2006 BMW Pop-Jazz Live Tour, a seven-city tour featuring innovative jazz saxophonist Mike Phillips; and the BMW Blackfilm.com Film Series, a four-city independent black film screening series.
The 2006 BMW Pop-Jazz Live Tour celebrates musical innovation by bridging jazz artistry with soul, funk, pop, rock and hip-hop. The tour features Mike Phillips, a NAACP Image Award nominee who has toured and collaborated with such artists as Stevie Wonder and Prince, and appeared at venues around the globe. Phillips has been the host and subject of jazz music showcases on Sirius satellite radio, and recently collaborated with neo-soul sensation Jill Scott. The tour launched in New Orleans on August 18 and traveled to Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. “We created the BMW Performance Series to make a difference at the community level while supporting films and music that have particular appeal to urban audiences” said Angeli Gianchandani, National Experiential Marketing Manager, BMW of North America. Funds raised through the BMW Pop-Jazz Live Series will support music education in local communities through a partnership with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. For more information on the 2006 BMW Pop-Jazz Live Tour visit www.ipopjazz.com.
The BMW Blackfilm.com Film Series, now in its third year, showcases emerging filmmakers and a diverse set of directors, actors and producers. The event will include discussion panels with writers, directors, and cast members of the screened films. The program benefits the college scholarship funds of local chapters of the National Black MBA Association. The Series launched with “Premium.” a Pete Chatmon picture featuring Hill Harper, with screening events in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.
The BMW Performance Series is an invitation-only event. “Independent thinking is vital to the creative process, whether the context is film, music or creating the ultimate driving machine.” said Tom Purves, chairman and CEO of BMW of North America, LLC. “The BMW Performance Series provides an opportunity to highlight creativity that we believe is the first of its kind. Urban films and film-making garner public and critical acclaim yet receive less attention than deserved from mainstream Hollywood. On the music front, Pop-Jazz is a burgeoning genre that is engaging a younger audience through its musical innovations.”
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