On April 28th, Philly Home Girls Present & WXPN Welcomes ANDREW LIPKE & JOHN BYRNE in Concert for Adaire will take over the renovated auditorium at Alexander Adaire K-8 School in Fishtown for an amazing, unique benefit show! Musician/composer/producer Andrew Lipke and internationally acclaimed Celtic folk act The John Byrne Band will play alongside elementary school students at a benefit concert open to the public to celebrate the revitalization of the school auditorium at Adaire.

"The joy that music brings is equaled only by its power to expand the mind and inspire the soul. As a musician and someone who spent 8 years teaching high school, I'm delighted and proud to help bring a strong and lasting music program to the Adaire School and to give something back to the neighborhood that has become my adopted home,” says Byrne.

With budget cuts and shortfalls hitting Philadelphia public schools yearly, many schools have struggled to keep enrichment subjects such as art and music. To help bridge the gap in Fishtown, a local community organization, Friends of Adaire, stepped in and helped raise enough to update the school's aging and broken stage equipment. With the help of the Penn Treaty Special Services District, which provided a matching grant in the sum of $12,000, and the generous contributions of over 50 community donors, Friends of Adaire raised the needed funds in just over four months.

This spring, to celebrate the success and to fundraise for new musical instruments for the students, Alexander Adaire K-8 school in Fishtown will open its doors to the community and general public for a special benefit concert.

Lipke, known for his current collaboration with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, and John Byrne, a regular at World Cafe Live, will work with Adaire students to create a joint opening act, under the guidance of Adaire music teachers Judith Goltz and Elizabeth Green.

“Investing my time and energy in the community of Fishtown - and especially the local schools and school music programs - is incredibly important to me,” says Lipke. “Not just because I feel music is an integral part of life and of immeasurable value to growing children, not just because this is my home, but also because I'm sending my daughter to Adaire this fall....and my daughter's future and the future of many in her growing circle of friends rests on the foundations we're building together, as a community, right now.”

Doors open at 6pm with a food truck serving food. Free parking will be available in the schoolyard at Thompson and Palmer streets. The silent auction and 50/50 raffle start at 6:30. Musical performances begin at 7. Childcare and activities provided by Palmer Pond Arts Center will be available for children. The audience will be invited to attend an afterparty at Frankford Hall.

Proceeds from the event will fund the purchase of new instruments for the Adaire music program. We're thrilled to have Philly Home Girls as title sponsors and thrilled to be adopted by WXPN! Thanks for the support!

Contact Denis Devine, communications chair of FoA, for further information at friendsofadaire@gmail.com.