To win a pair of tickets to this exclusive event, fill out the form below. Contests closes June 6th at 12am.
With Monday just around the corner and the Grand Prix festivities wrapping up, we couldn’t imagine a more wonderful way to end this crazy week but to drift off to the beautiful melodies of John Legend. Yes, the nine-time Grammy Award-winning John Legend. What makes this June 9th event oh-so-special is the fact that Legend will be singing for charity and for a crowd of only around 1400. Talk about up close and personal.
To get more insight on this wonderful event and cause, we caught up with Jeffrey Bernstein, the incoming President of ICRF Montreal and the Gala Chair:
Tell us a little about the ICRF and what it represents.
ICRF represents hope. ICRF represents accomplishment. We’ve been funding cancer research since the mid 70s and have raised more than $50 million doing so. The money we raise funds doctors, researchers and scientists in Israel and Montreal who all have one goal in mind: finding a cure for cancer for the benefit of all mankind. Cancer has no borders. It affects everyone and anything. We want a better world for our children and their children along the way. Since the 70s we’ve been instrumental in various discoveries including the introduction of groundbreaking and life-saving cancer drugs such as Gleevec and Doxil. Two ICRF-funded scientists won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry in 2006; this was a major accomplishment for our organization.
The ICRF holds a few fundraising events a year. What makes the Gala special?
The Gala is our yearly flagship event. As you know, there are no shortages of charity events in and around Montreal. We need to bring value to the table and act responsibly while doing so. We do a great job at that. Our Galas are always special, delivering the right message of how we are working so hard to conquer this awful disease – which has now become the #1 cause of death in Canada.
How did John Legend come on board for this year’s edition?
I was at home with my wife and was brainstorming with her on who we could bring in. I had already reached out to some A-list musicians but the timing didn’t work and I was starting to stress out. We were working on our wedding video at the time (we got married in August 2013 and have our first baby coming end of July – it’s a boy!) and had to choose songs for the video. My wife turns to me and says, “You know, I love that new John Legend song ‘All of Me’ that we chose for the opening song of our wedding video – why don’t we bring him in?” I said, “Sure, John Legend, nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist… why not? Sigh.” I then emailed my good friend Derek Dudley in LA, who’s COMMON’s manager and a well-known figure in the hip-hop/RnB world. Derek wrote back, we spoke on the phone, and within a day we had emails going back and forth with him, John and his management. In the end, John decided to do the show, breaking away from his current “All of Me Tour” for a couple of nights – I know the cause is dear to him and was a principle factor in him agreeing to do the show. Probably one of the nicest people (his entire team too) I’ve met in the entertainment industry.
What can guests expect at the event?
We have over 700 attending the pre-show VIP red carpet cocktail and over 1,200 attending the event.
The VIP cocktail will feature all the glitz and glam that you’d expect including a red carpet, sponsor wall, open bar, incredible spread of sushi and other delicious food. We will present the honorary fellowship award to Michal and Renata Hornstein, well-known Montrealers and philanthropists who recently donated their entire art collection (valued at over $75 million) to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts & Concordia University. After that, a full two-hour concert from John begins, and that will speak for itself. Five lucky couples will get to sit on stage during the show in separate love seats – what an experience that will be!
How do you hope to raise this time around?
We hope to beat out last years’ figure, which was around $750,000.
Tickets are available here, including newly released $100 balcony seating. They are going fast, so don’t wait to support this notable initiative.
*To win a pair of tickets to this exclusive event, fill out the form below. Contests closes June 6th at 12am.
#LYNL | (Live Your Notable Life)
Last John Legend image from John Legend Facebook
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