Fairfield to host Children’s Benefit Concert Saturday

FAIRFIELD — The 27th Annual Children’s Benefit Concert will be held in person this year for the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic.

The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 at The Lab, located at 408 W. Lowe Avenue in Fairfield. Admission is $12. Masks are welcome but not required. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go toward three charities: SIEDA Community Action, Crisis Center & Women’s Shelter in Ottumwa, and Airline Ambassadors.

Jonas Magram has organized this event every year, and just as always, he will sing with the other performers who will grace the stage that evening such as Steve Hillis, LeAnne Edgeton, Annie Savage and Iris Savage-Webster.

Magram said that SIEDA has always been one of the beneficiaries of this concert, and about five years ago he decided to add the two others, the crisis center and Airline Ambassadors. He said Airline Ambassadors supports the poorest children around the world by offering them flights, such as flying them to a hospital for specialized medical procedures.

“They do a lot of wonderful work,” he said.

The performers

Annie Savage is an acclaimed fiddler whose playing is as “joyful and passionate as it is virtuosic,” said Magram. Savage is a former member of the group Awful Purdies, which has performed for the benefit concert multiple times.

“Annie will also be playing her full-size harp,” Magram said. “This will be her fifth or sixth time performing in our show.”

Savage will be joined by her talented daughter, Iris Savage-Webster, on vocals and guitar, for some “delightful mother-daughter Americana duets that are guaranteed to warm your heart and lift your spirits.” Savage-Webster is a freshman at the University of Iowa, and Magram said she has inherited her mother’s “love and talent for music.”

Hillis is a familiar name to everyone in Fairfield’s music scene, and once again he will lend his extraordinary jazz piano skills to the children’s benefit concert.

“He’s quite well known and a highly respected musician in Eastern Iowa,” Magram said. “Steve and I will perform both love songs and holiday music.”

LeAnne Edgeton has made a name for herself as an accomplished pianist, specializing in vocal and Broadway accompaniment.

“LeAnne will join me on Broadway favorites from ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and ‘Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd,’” Magram said.

Edgeton was named Citizen of the Year at the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet in 2021.

Magram said the concert will also feature “special guest” Tim Britton, who will perform on his pennywhistle.

“He is highly respected among the American Irish music community,” Magram said.

Magram said he is excited to hold the concert in The Lab, a new performing center owned by Eric Schaffer that until recently was an office space.

“I hope people will turn out to celebrate, because it’s great music for a great cause,” Magram said. “Everyone associated with our benefit concert is volunteering their time and energy.”

Magram said the pandemic forced him to hold the concert virtually in 2020 and 2021, and though that deprived the organization of its ticket sales, he still managed to raise more than $20,000 last year.

“That’s our target again this year,” Magram said.

Since its inception, the benefit concert has raised more than $300,000, all of which has gone to charity. The concert is also available over Zoom. To watch, donate or to learn more about the benefit, email Magram at childrensholidaybenefit@gmail.com. All donations are tax-deductible.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com