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Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution Opening Reception — at Florida Holocaust Museum

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Thank you to everyone who attended the sold out program! 

Along with viewing the exhibition, the opening reception included a panel discussion with Radio Personality and Executive Director of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation Bonnie Simmons, Vice President of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation Rita Gentry, Music Producer and CFO of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation Danny Scher, and Bill Graham’s sons Alex and David Graham. Additionally, Ed Greene host of WMNF’s 88.5 FM The Freak Show emceed this program.

"Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution" opened today, Saturday, August 18th at The Florida Holocaust Museum!The "Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution Exhibition Opening Reception," live streaming now, includes a panel discussion with Radio Personality and Executive Director of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation Bonnie Simmons, Vice President of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation Rita Gentry, Music Producer and CFO of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation Danny Scher, and Bill Graham's sons Alex and David Graham. Additionally, Ed Greene host of WMNF's 88.5 FM The Freak Show is emceeing this event."Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution" is organized and circulated by the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, in association with the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, and made possible by the support of Alex Graham, David Graham, and Danny Scher.Presented locally by Bank of America, with additional support from the State of Florida Department of Cultural Affairs and The June Baumgardner Gelbart Foundation.

Posted by Florida Holocaust Museum on Saturday, August 18, 2018

 

Rock & roll at Holocaust Museum? Life of legendary concert promoter Bill Graham makes it happen

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From The Jewish Press of Pinellas County

The Florida Holocaust Museum’s upcoming exhibit will intersect the Holocaust with the rock & roll explosion that ignited in the 1960s.

Opening in St. Petersburg in August, “Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution” is the first exhibition to explore the extraordinary life of renowned concert impresario Bill Graham (1931- 1991), who helped launch the careers of many music legends of the 1960s at his famed Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.

Over the years, he worked with such iconic musicians as the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, the Who, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. He also conceived rock & roll as a powerful force for supporting humanitarian causes and was instrumental in the production of milestone benefit concerts such as Live Aid (1985) and Human Rights Now! (1988).

Read more

 

“Grammy Salute to Music Legends” Special includes tribute to Bill Graham

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RECORDING ACADEMY™ TO HONOR 2018 SPECIAL MERIT AWARDS RECIPIENTS WITH “GRAMMY SALUTE TO MUSIC LEGENDS®” TELEVISION SPECIAL AS PART OF “GREAT PERFORMANCES” SERIES ON PBS

NEIL DIAMOND, EMMYLOU HARRIS, QUEEN, TINA TURNER, AND OTHERS TO BE HONORED AT THIRD ANNUAL AWARDS AND TRIBUTE CONCERT 

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (June 12, 2018) — The Recording Academy™ will honor its 2018 Special Merit Awards recipients with “GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®,” an awards ceremony and live tribute concert on Saturday, July 14, 2018, at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Hal Blaine, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Louis Jordan, the Meters, Queen, and Tina Turner. Additional Special Merit Awards honorees to be celebrated include Bill Graham, Seymour Stein, and John Williams, who are this year’s Trustees Award honorees, and Tony Agnello and Richard Factor, who are the Technical GRAMMY Award recipients. Also being honored is Melissa Salguero, this year’s recipient of the Music Educator Award™. Led by GRAMMY®-nominated industry icon Greg Phillinganes as musical director, the tribute concert will feature rare performances by honorees and never-seen renditions by those they’ve inspired. Currently scheduled to appear are eight-time GRAMMY winner Herb Alpert, who will honor Blaine; past GRAMMY nominee Micky Dolenz, who will be honoring Diamond; GRAMMY winner Sammy Hagar, who will pay tribute to Graham; 13-time GRAMMY winner and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Harris; past GRAMMY nominee Ledisi, who will salute Jordan; and three-time GRAMMY winner Trisha Yearwood, who will pay tribute to Harris. Presenters for the evening include actress Angela Bassett and GRAMMY winner Henry Rollins. Additional performers and presenters will be announced shortly. Tickets for the event will be on sale via Ticketmaster beginning today.

See entire Press Release

Buy Tickets to July 14 Event

“Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution” at the Florida Holocaust Museum

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***EXHIBITION ANNOUNCEMENT***

The Florida Holocaust Museum is thrilled to announce “Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution” is coming to the Museum in the fall of 2018! This exhibition explores the extraordinary life of renowned music promoter Bill Graham (1931- 1991) who helped launch and promote the careers of countless rock & roll artists. It also traces the indomitable spirit of a man brought to the United States as an eleven-year-old Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis, fueling a lifelong passion and advocacy for social justice.

Named one of the best museum shows of 2017 by the Chicago Tribune, The FHM is proud to present this iconic exhibition, organized and circulated by the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, in association with the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, and made possible by the support of Alex Graham, David Graham, and Danny Scher.

Due to the increasing peril to Jews in Germany, Graham’s mother placed her son and her youngest daughter, Tanya “Tolla”, in a Berlin orphanage, which sent them to France in a pre-Holocaust exchange of Jewish children for Christian orphans. Graham’s older sisters Sonja and Ester stayed behind with their mother. After the fall of France, Graham was among a group of Jewish orphans spirited out of France, some of whom finally reached the United States. But a majority, including his sister Tolla, did not survive the difficult journey. He was one of the One Thousand Children (OTC), those mainly Jewish children who managed to flee Hitler and Europe, and come directly to North America, but whose parents were forced to stay behind. Nearly all of these OTC parents were killed by the Reich. Graham’s mother died at Auschwitz. Graham had five sisters, Rita, Evelyn, Sonia, Ester and Tolla, the elder four whom Survived the Holocaust.

“Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution” is the first comprehensive retrospective about the life and career of renowned music industry impresario Bill Graham. Recognized as one of the most influential concert promoters in history, Graham launched the careers of countless rock & roll legends in the 1960s at his famed Fillmore Auditorium. He conceived rock & roll as a powerful force for supporting humanitarian causes and was instrumental in the production of milestone benefit concerts such as Live Aid (1985) and Human Rights Now! (1988). As a promoter and manager, he worked with iconic artists including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, and the Rolling Stones.

***”Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution” opens to the public on August 18, 2018 and will be on display through February 10, 2019 at The Florida Holocaust Museum.

Bill Graham awarded the Recording Academy’s “Trustees Award”

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We are pleased to announce that Bill Graham was awarded the Recording Academy’s  “Trustees Award” at this year’s Grammys along with record company executive Seymour Stein and film composer John Williams. They will be honored at a special event this summer along with the musicians who received Lifetime Achievement Awards, and a PBS broadcast of this event will follow.

Here’s an excerpt from the Press Release from the Recording Academy:

ABOUT THE TRUSTEES AWARD HONOREES:

At the Fillmore Auditorium, Fillmore West, Winterland, and Fillmore East, Bill Graham* created the modern rock concert. He discovered and managed artists such as Santana, and organized national tours for Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and George Harrison. Having arrived in America as a 10-year-old Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany with not much more than the clothes on his back, Graham raised millions of dollars for charitable causes by staging Live Aid as well as many other benefit tours.

Read the entire Press Release

Press Release: Class of 2018 Special Merit Award Recipients

Info for Grant Seekers

Click here for Application and Deadline info

The Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, was formed in January of 2008 in memory of the legendary rock impresario, Bill Graham. The foundation is a public charity that is funded through individual and corporate contributions and grants.

The Foundation is guided by a broad-based group which includes Bill’s sons, several former long-time employees of Bill Graham Presents and other community leaders.

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Photo Credits

Slide photos: Bill photos (left to right) Unknown, Chris Scott, Unknown*
Organization photos courtesy of: Berkeley Old Time Music Conference, Little Kids Rock, Fiddle Kids, Destiny Arts, Los Centzontles, Urban Sprouts, 826 Valencia Street, Art with Elders, Friends of Sausal Creek, East Bay Center for Performing Arts, Ceres Community Project, Urban Sprouts
Event photos: Ken Friedman, Jay Blakesberg

See more photos here

If you know or are the photographer for any uncredited photo, please contact us and let us know!