Oct. 13 Performance at Mexican Army Facility |
In the name of the people of the United States, the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission in Mexico, Stephen Kelly, delivers a diploma to Gen. Rigoberto Castillejos Adriano and expresses appreciation for the support provided by the Mexican Army to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. | 
The Tim Laughlin Quartet performing for the Mexican Army | 
The audience, which included servicemen who traveled to the United States to assist victims of the hurricane, listens to the Tim Laughlin Quartet. |
Mexico City: October 7, 2005 --- “Despite the devastation in New Orleans, the spirit and resilience of this city are evident in its music. I am very pleased that the Tim Laughlin Quartet is bringing its own unique style of New Orleans jazz to show gratitude to our Mexican neighbors who so generously aided the victims of Hurricane Katrina.” Ambassador Tony Garza.
The Tim Laughlin Quartet will tour Mexico October 12 to 21, offering concerts and master classes in six cities: Mexico City, Merida (Sister City to New Orleans), Veracruz, Xalapa, Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez. This tour is sponsored by the U.S. Embassy, U.S. Consulates, and the US-Mexico Cultural Foundation, to thank the people of Mexico for their expressions of sympathy and condolences, as well as their donations to ease the suffering of those so gravely affected by Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster to strike the United States in more than a century.
Special highlights of the tour include performances in honor of Mexican military support for the hurricane victims. The quartet’s concert on October 14 in Mérida will be a benefit for the NOCCA Institute, a school of creative arts located in New Orleans. The event will take place at the Centro de Artes Visuals located at Calle 60 between 45 and 47, at 9:00 pm. Tickets for this event are $200 pesos, and may be purchased at the Hyatt Hotel, Fiesta Americana, Holiday Inn, Amigo Yucatan, Mayaprint, and the Merida English Library. On October 15, the Quartet will also perform as part of the Otoño Cultural at the Teatro Merida. This concert will begin at 9:00 pm.
Tim Laughlin and his fellow musicians Tom McDermott, Bradford Truby, and Ronnie Magri have lived and worked in New Orleans for many years. When they departed their beloved New Orleans for a concert in Paraguay in the days immediately before Hurricane Katrina struck, they had no idea of the devastation to come. Their first concert in Asuncion was dedicated to their friends and loved ones in New Orleans, with the members of the quartet still unsure how many of them had fared.
In addition to the tour in Mexico, the Tim Laughlin Quartet will be hosted by the U.S. Department of State to perform in Peru, September 30 to October 11 and in Canada October 22 to 29, also in appreciation for international support for relief efforts.
Tim Laughlin Quartet Mexico tour:
Mexico City: October 12-13
Merida: October 14-15
Veracruz: October 16
Xalapa: October 17
Nuevo Laredo: October 19
Ciudad Juarez: October 20-21
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