Performer Steve Gill of Los Altos leads a benefit concert for Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 24) at Menlo School, 50 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton.
This year’s concert is a tribute to the music of Tony Bennett, also featuring Gill’s friend Alex Perez and Marie Finch, the school’s choral director. The tribute will feature solos, duets and trios with such standards as “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Both Gill and Perez directed theater for many years at Menlo School. Gill has performed professionally with American Musical Theater, TheatreWorks, San Jose Stage Company and West Bay Opera.
Proceeds benefit the Lighthouse for the Blind, which helps those who are visually impaired. The annual concerts have raised more than $150,000 since their beginning in 1999. Lighthouse has used the proceeds to provide scholarships for those attending its Enchanted Hills Camp and help fund rebuilding projects in the aftermath of the devastating 2017 fires.
In 1997, shortly after she graduated from Los Altos High School, 18-year-old Anne Gill was in a near-fatal car accident that left her blind and brain injured.
When Anne returned home after a long rehabilitation, her parents, Nancy and Steve, were delighted to find out about Lighthouse for the Blind and Enchanted Hills Camp. Anne, like other participants, enjoyed spending five days in the Napa Hills participating in activities like horseback riding, swimming and hiking.
The Gills’ gratitude for the camp’s existence, their appreciation for the incredible patience and compassion of the staff and their desire to support the special needs session at the camp inspired Steve Gill to organize the benefit concerts.
Perez of Palo Alto has worked professionally as an actor, director and choreographer throughout the Bay Area. Finch, a resident of Mountain View, has performed Off-Broadway and in local theater.
The requested donation for a ticket is $20.
For more information and to reserve tickets, contact Nancy Gill at (650) 948-4648 or email [email protected].
