Secretary of State Rice to perform at concert

[February 20, 2010]  SALIDA, Calif. (AP) -- Officials with a California nonprofit group say former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has agreed to play the piano at a benefit concert to raise funds for a local school.

The Salida Performing Arts Foundation says the concert at a private residence March 27 will also include cellist Michael Reynolds and tenor Dennis McNeil.

Tickets cost $500 a person, or $5,000 for a table of eight.

Salida Performing Arts Foundation co-founder Brad Friley says he hopes to use the money to purchase additional violins for fourth-graders at Salida's Sisk Elementary School.

Rice, who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush, is an accomplished pianist. She is currently a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

[Associated Press]

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