FOSTER SET FOR MUSICAL MIRACLE
STAR-STUDDED LINEUP SUPPORTS KIDS WAITING FOR ORGAN TRANSPLANTS
Now comes the heavy lifting for David Foster.
It’s the day before the Miracle Foundation Gala and Concert to benefit the foundation that bears his name, one that supports the families of children awaiting organ transplants in this country.
And at 10 a.m., the famed Canadian musician and producer is already neck-deep in the day, conducting media interviews, keeping track of rehearsals and trying to make sure he and his team have taken care of all of the tiny little details that an event of this magnitude require while still keeping an eye on the goal of the evening.
“Our goal is always to raise millions and millions of dollars,” says the Canadian songwriting legend while sitting in a conference room at the Palliser Hotel. “Our first fundraiser 26 years ago we raised $149,000 and I think we spent $140,000.
“We were new at it and we didn’t quite know what we were doing but now the goal, of course, is to net millions ... all to benefit the families.”
They’re already off to an impressive start, with the star-studded gala which will take place in a WestJet hangar on the Calgary company’s campus in the city’s northeast, having entirely sold out in advance, before most of the celebrity performers were even announced.
At $15,000 for a regular table of 10, $25,000 for premium placement, the goal is well in reach.
And if that wasn’t enough, while taking a flight here via WestJet, one of the major sponsors along with Telus, he and his band were introduced to the rest of the passengers by the cabin crew, with the reason for their trip to town explained.
“A woman walked up to me and handed me a cheque for a thousand dollars made out to the foundation,” he says.
Again, it all goes to a cause that’s near and dear to his heart — no pun intended. The money raised allows the families of those waiting for the life-giving gift of a new organ the piece of mind necessary to be there for the kids when it matters most.
“It’s phenomenal to think that we can be the light when everything else is dark for them,” says Foster.
“Of course, getting an organ, a successful organ transplant, that is the real light but we’re the temporary fix that takes the financial strain off the family so that they can concentrate on what they need to concentrate on the most, which is the sick child.”
Which brings us back, again, to the many other things on his mind to ensure the evening is a success and that he provides those who have bought into the event, literally and figuratively, get an experience with the concert they can’t see anywhere else.
Yes, there’s a dinner and auction portion of the evening, which will likely provide some highlights for the audience, but it’s more the entertainment aspect that puts Foster’s skills and Rolodex to good use.
Joining him this year will be a host of performers and celebs, including: Oscar- and Grammy winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson; veteran comedian Sinbad; R&B artist and producer Kenny (Babyface) Edmonds; several Real Housewives of Bev- erly Hills, including Foster’s wife Yolanda; and teen classical-pop singer Jackie Evancho, who shot to stardom at the age of 10 as a contestant on America’s Got Talent.
“Jackie,” Foster says thoughtfully when asked about her. “There’s so many phenomenal things I can say about Jackie Evancho because she really defies gravity. We’ve all seen the nine year-olds, the 10-year-olds, the 12-year-olds and the 16-year-old that can all get out there and kill it ...
“But the poise and the maturity of this 14-year-old is just ... And she’s had that, I’ve known her since she was eight, literally, before America’s Got Talent.”
Evancho, also making the media rounds on this Friday morning, takes Foster’s praise with the weight and import it carries.
“It is a major confidence boost for me to hear him say that,” she says.
Not like she necessarily needs that boost, her career is going along quite remarkably without it. This Tuesday, Evancho released her newest studio album Awakening — soon to be followed by a PBS special — which in title and content is meant to show how far she’s come in the last four years and to signal her “awakening as an artist and maturing.”
“I’ve always been seen as a child prodigy and now that I’m 14, I’m a teenager and maturing and growing up, becoming more involved,” says Evancho, noting she participated completely in the record, including picking the photo for the cover and having final say on the 12 tracks — a mix of originals and covers, including opener Think of Me from The Phantom of the Opera, Ave Maria and her take on U2’s With Or Without You, which is literally twice her age.
“I really do love it,” she says of the song which her parents introduced her to. “It’s one of my favourite songs on the album.”
Other than their musical guidance, Evancho gives her mother and father a great deal of credit for the fact she’s as grounded and well-adjusted as she is, despite being forever in the media spotlight and having achieved the kind of success in her young years that most performers couldn’t muster in a lifetime.
“I am at a young age and I do need to have some normality in my life, and my parents do a very good job of making sure I have that. So I do go to public school, I have friends, and I get to have sleepovers and playdates,” the ninth-grader says putting the latter term in air quotes.
“But I also get to add to it the experience of travelling and singing. And a lot of people think that’s taking away my childhood, but in all honesty it’s adding to it and making it more exciting.”
It also provides her the opportunity to give back through events such as Foster’s gala. She hopes the work she does for the foundation, just showing up and performing a few of her songs for the greater good, will offer her fans — especially her young, female fans — a certain amount of guidance as well.
“My goal is to be an inspiration for them, to inspire them to do better things rather than worse things,” she says, before taking it further.
“One of my goals, with this voice, is to make this world a better place ... As corny as it sounds, it is one of my goals.”
And should she ever stray from that goal or lose sight of it, she’ll likely have to answer to Foster.
The man who’s had a hand in the careers of such stars as Celine Dion, Michael Bublé and Josh Groban takes a certain amount of pride in the fact that many of those he’s mentored through the years have remained down-toearth and never succumbed to the narcissism that celeb life can breed.
“It’s funny because I have this routine — I don’t know if I’d do it with Jackie or not because she’s a little young — but I have this routine where I get a video camera right at the beginning and sit them down,” Foster says before running through the routine.
“‘Repeat after me: I blah blah blah.’ ‘I blah blah blah.’ ‘Promise.’ ‘Promise.’ ‘To never, ever, ever.’ ‘To never, ever, ever.’ ‘Turn into an a — hole.’ ” He laughs. “And I had it all on video. I’ve been pretty lucky.”