The concert features performances by Tony winner Barbara Cook, Tony winner Billy Porter, Tony winner Lea Salonga, Tony nominee De'Adre Aziza, Tony nominee Amanda Green, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Lindsay Mendez, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Telly Leung, Rick Lyon, Justin Guarini and Marti Stevens.
WBGO’s Gary Walker emcees the event. Daniel Goldstein directs with musical direction and arrangements by Marco Paguia.
Student choirs from the Newark Boys Chorus School and VOICE Charter School will also perform. VOICE, a public K-8 charter school in Long Island City that dedicates two hours each day to singing, will recognize the naming of its upper school as the Lena Horne Campus during the event.
"Kids today need positive role models," said Michael Druckman, founder and executive chair of Schools That Can, in an earlier statement. "This tribute to Lena Horne reminds us all how the life of this legendary woman resonates for young people working to overcome today's opportunity gap."
In 1987 Horne earned the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Pied Piper Award, which honors entertainers who have made significant contributions to words and music.
"When she accepted, she said, 'These are issues I care about passionately: civil rights and equal opportunities for disadvantaged children,'" recalled Gail Buckley, Horne’s daughter and a collaborator on the concert. "Those issues are more urgent today than ever. I am thrilled about this tribute to benefit Schools That Can, and to celebrate the naming of the Lena Horne Campus of the VOICE Charter School."
