Jazz Sampler, bone marrow registry to kick off Purdue's Cancer Culture & Community activities
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University's Cancer Culture & Community series, centering on the theme "More to Live For," will kick off this fall's activities with a Jazz Sampler and bone marrow registry on Sept. 23 at the Lafayette Theater in downtown Lafayette.
The Conversations in Jazz trio of Danny Weiss, Mo Trout and Lynn Colwell, along with the Jazz Derivatives quartet of Larry Guentert, Gil Gordon, Hunt Whiley and Aaron Graves, are headlining the free concert, which will run from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Harry Bulow also will give a special tribute to Michael Brecker, a saxophonist and 15-time Grammy Award winner who died from complications of leukemia in 2007. Don Seybold will serve as the event's host.
As part of the event, a community-wide bone marrow registry will run from 3-9:30 p.m., also at the Lafayette Theater, 600 Main St., Lafayette.
This year's Cancer Culture & Community theme is drawn from the documentary, "More to Live For," a film produced by Noah Hutton that shines the spotlight on bone marrow transplants. The film includes the stories of Nigerian 2014 Winter Olympic hopeful Seun Adebiyi, entertainment executive James Chippendale and Brecker, and their dramatic battles with cancer.
"The documentary is about three lives, all shaken by cancer and dependent upon the one vital bone marrow match that could save them," said Kris Swank, project director at Discovery Park's Oncological Sciences Center, which along with the College of Liberal Arts, leads Purdue's Cancer Culture & Community program.
"We're excited that we can help play a role here at Purdue and in our community to educate and advocate the simple step we can all take by participating in this bone marrow registry activity."
The community jazz concert and bone marrow registry will provide a sample for the Cancer Culture & Community's main event in November, said Bambrah Miller, who is organizing the community events for this year's Cancer Culture & Community initiative.
Hutton, 24, will give a presentation about "More to Live For" at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3 in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. Adebiyi will provide a first-person account of how his life was shaken by cancer. The film also will be shown for free at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2 in Fowler Hall.
In connection with the talks by Hutton and Adebiyi, a second local bone marrow drive is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 3 in the west end of Stewart Center. The Purdue School of Nursing is assisting with both bone marrow registries.
To be on the National Bone Marrow Registry, participants will be asked to provide a swab of cheek cells, Miller said. The tissue type will be sampled and placed in the registry for matching with patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. Registrants must be between the ages of 18 and 55.
Event sponsors are the Oncological Sciences Center, College of Liberal Arts, Department of English, Office of the Provost, the Office of Engagement, Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, School of Nursing, WBAA Public Radio and Summit Financial Group of Indiana.
A graduate of Yale Law School and a collegiate swimmer, Adebiyi, 28, was diagnosed with leukemia while training to become the first Nigerian to participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in the skeleton event. Chippendale is the founder of international entertainment broker CSI Insurance and the anti-leukemia charity Love Hope Strength Foundation. Brecker, considered the greatest jazz tenor saxophonist, died from complications to leukemia in 2007.
Discovery Park's Oncological Sciences Center, in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts, launched the annual Cancer Culture and Community initiative in 2007 to explore how the arts and literature provide an outlet of expression to those struggling with cancer.
Cancer Culture & Community events lineup:
Friday, Sept. 23
3-6:30 p.m. - Bone Marrow Registry, Lafayette Theater.
6:30-9:30 p.m. - Jazz Sampler, Lafayette Theater.
Wednesday, Nov. 2
7:30 p.m. - "More to Live For" showing by PSUB, Fowler Hall
Thursday, Nov. 3
9 a.m.-4 p.m. - Bone Marrow Registry, Stewart Hall in southwest foyer of Stewart Center
7:30 p.m. - "More to Live For" presentation with Noah Hutton and Seun Adebiyi, Fowler Hall
9 p.m. - Reception, Stewart Center Gallery
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Sources: Kris Swank, 765-494-4674, kswank@purdue.edu
Bambrah Miller, 765-496-6147, bambrah@purdue.edu