Skip to main content

Emmylou Harris to Headline WTTW/WFMT's Celebration 2013 on May 1, 2013

Country/folk/bluegrass legend to be joined by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell and other surprise guests. Evening celebrating American Innovation will shine a spotlight on WTTW’s upcoming national PBS special 10 Buildings That Changed America.

For immediate release
Chicago, IL - March 5, 2013

WTTW, Chicago’s premier public television station, and WFMT, Chicago’s classical and fine arts radio station, are pleased to announce that Grammy Award-winning recording artist Emmylou Harris will perform at the two organizations’ annual benefit on Wednesday, May 1 at the WTTW/WFMT studio, 5400 North Saint Louis Avenue in Chicago. She will be joined by her long time collaborator, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, with whom she released a duets album, Old Yellow Moon, on February 26th. Also featured will be a host of surprise guests, and the evening will culminate in an elegant dinner prepared by Jewell Events Catering.

The theme for this year’s WTTW/WFMT celebration is American Innovation, in honor of the upcoming May 12 national premiere of WTTW’s new special 10 Buildings That Changed America -- television tour guide Geoffrey Baer’s first program produced for a nationwide audience. The 60-minute program, written/produced by Dan Protess, highlights ten influential American buildings that changed the way we live, work, and play, along with the visionaries who created them.


About Emmylou Harris

12-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris is a true American success story.  Over a storied 40-year career, her work has spanned a variety of musical genres – country, bluegrass, folk, country rock – as she became renowned as a solo artist, backing vocalist, bandleader, and especially as an evocative songwriter and discoverer and interpreter of other composers’ music.  She has collaborated with a diverse group of artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Vince Gill, Patty Griffin, Gram Parsons and many others.


About Rodney Crowell

Born in Houston, singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell has released twenty albums in four decades, with five consecutive number-one hits, and has also worked widely as a songwriter and a producer. His honors include a Grammy, an ASCAP lifetime achievement award, and membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He lives in Nashville.


To learn more about American Innovation, 10 Buildings That Changed America, and to support WTTW and WFMT by sponsoring a table, please visit www.wttw.com/celebration2013.

Co-chairs of this year’s event are Renée and Lester Crown; Honorary Chair is Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The Lead Sponsor of Celebration 2013 is BMO Harris Bank.

American Airlines is the official airline of Celebration 2013; the Park Hyatt is the event’s official hotel.


About WTTW11 and 98.7WFMT

For almost 60 years, Chicago’s premier public television station WTTW11 and classical radio station 98.7WFMT have provided high-quality programming for audiences over a four-state area. WTTW presents the very best in cultural, public affairs and children's programming across its four distinct television channels: WTTW11, WTTW Prime, its Spanish-language channel V-me, and WTTW Create, and through its web site, www.wttw.com. Classical radio station 98.7WFMT, now in its 62nd year on the air, provides the best and broadest selection of classical music and fine arts programming heard in the country, and is accessible across America and globally via enhanced web streaming at www.wfmt.com.