Presented as part of the international month of La Francophonie, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Institute/Alliance Française will host a benefit concert for Haiti on Monday, March 15, 2010, at 8:00pm at the Florence Gould Hall, which is located at 55 East 59th Street in New York City.

Internationally acclaimed, Grammy award-winning Beninese musician Angelique Kidjo, French pop-soul singer and former tennis player Yannick Noah, esteemed Haitian vocalist Emeline Michel, up-and-coming Haitian singer-songwriter BélO, French multi-instrumentalist and singer Mino Cinelu, and surprise special guests will share the stage of Florence Gould Hall at this unique benefit concert for Haiti.

The concert will raise funds for the reconstruction of the Ciné Institute in Jacmel, a small city south of Port-au-Prince that was destroyed by the earthquake, and for the French Heritage Language Program in the United States.

Ciné Institute seeks to educate and empower Haitian youth with the creative, technical, and business skills necessary to grow local media industries that can provide jobs and spur economic growth in Haiti. The French Heritage Language Program is run by the non-profit French American Cultural Exchange foundation (FACE), and plays a vital role in educating young Haitian refugees in Miami and New York.

Angelique Kidjo appears by special arrangement with The Town Hall, where she will also perform on Friday, March 26.

For more information, see http://www.fiaf.org/events/winter2010/2010-03-15-haiti-concert.shtml

See more about the Ciné Institute at http://www.cineinstitute.com/news/recovery-and-reportage and the French Heritage Language Program at http://www.facecouncil.org/fhlp/index.html