France pitches in for New Orleans recovery

WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (AFP) – France plans to help jazz musicians in New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina to recover by organizing concerts on their behalf in France and sponsoring residencies for them in the country.

French culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres is due in New Orleans on Friday to unveil the project as well as several other cultural initiatives designed to help the region recover from the disaster.

The first concert next Monday will feature French singer Francis Cabrel and Louisiana singer and songwriter Zachary Richard at Paris’ Palais des Congrès. Proceeds from the event, expected to raise US $130,000, will go to help Louisiana musicians.

And starting in December, artists from New Orleans will be provided with apartments and stipends to work and perform in the French capital for three-month stints.

The French embassy in Washington unveiled the measures this week at a cocktail reception to salute French relief efforts in the aftermath of Katrina.

French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte noted that French firms and their US subsidiaries had contributed EUR 20.7 million dollars toward relief efforts and vowed that more was yet to come.

“All of the French people have Louisiana on their minds and want to help make New Orleans better and more beautiful than ever,” he told a gathering of US senators and congressmen as well as French business leaders.

Subject: French news