Cast of CHICAGO to Perform at Louis Armstrong Center Music & Medicine Awards Sept. 22

The cast of the long-running Broadway hit "Chicago," will be among the headliners at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine's annual awards presentation, cocktail reception, and silent auction to be held at Beth Israel Medical Center's Phillips Ambulatory Care Center Nerken Family Atrium on Tuesday, September 22, 6 to 9 pm.

The evening's honorees are Dr. Russell Portenoy, a renowned pain medicine specialist; Jon Faddis, the celebrated jazz trumpeter and educator; and Michael Kingon, pianist for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and The Ailey School -- recipients of the 2009 "What a Wonderful World" Award. The annual awards ceremony celebrates health care advocates, music legends and patients.

Dancer-choreographer Mercedes Ellington will preside as mistress of ceremonies. Also among the evening's musical treats with be the performance of three emerging jazz artists - Maxilmilien "Max" Darché, Bruce Harris and Kyla Moscovich.

Dr. Portenoy is Chairman and Gerald J. Friedman Chair of Beth Israel's Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care. He is Chief Medical Officer of Continuum Hospice Care/The Jacob Perlow Hospice; and Professor of Neurology and Anesthesiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Mr. Faddis is a complete and consummate musician, conductor, composer and educator. Marked by both intense integrity and humor, he earned accolades from his close friend and mentor, Jon Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, who declared of Faddis, "He's the best ever, including me!" Whatever the context - classroom or concert hall - and whatever the style, Jon Faddis epitomizes the best in Jazz.

Mr. Kingon is a musical prodigy who began playing the piano at age 3. He performed professional since graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in 1989. He is currently

a Faculty Musician for the Ailey School and an accompanist with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

For more information about the 2009 What A Wonderful World event, and programs and services offered by the Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine, please call 212-420-2704 or check out its website at www.musicandmedicine.org.