Buchanan to Rock with VH1 for Education Event

NEWPORT BEACH, CA-Locally based Buchanan Street Partners, best known for forming joint ventures involving complex real estate deals and developments, has a new partner. The real estate investment bank will team up with cable television channel VH1 to host the first annual Encore for Education charity concert.

Being held Thursday, June 7 at the Los Angeles House of Blues, the event will be a combination networking event and rock concert. Sponsors have landed Warner Bros. recording artist The Goo Goo Dolls, who topped the pop charts with “Iris” in 1998 and most recently hit gold with the 2006 release Let Love In.

“We wanted to carry on our tradition of community involvement and social stewardship in Los Angeles, fitting this event to the region’s personality,” Buchanan Street Partners CEO Robert Brunswick tells Globest.com. “We looked at the unique elements of Los Angeles and its entertainment reputation certainly commands a lot of attention. So, taking over the House of Blues and bringing a big name band to the party fit the bill.”

According to Buchanan officials, proceeds from the concert will benefit VH1′s Save the Music Foundation and Los Angeles public schools. The L.A. school system has already benefited from past VH1 support. Christopher Columbus Middle School in Los Angeles received $85,000 to benefit music programs during the 2005-2006 school year. In Pasadena, students at Longfellow and Willard elementary schools received $55,000 in new musical instruments from Save the Music and Charter Communications and were invited to perform at the Rose Bowl July 4, 2006.

Numerous studies show the connection between music education and spatial intelligence. A study at Stanford University revealed that musical training improves the cognitive process, particularly for children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. In another report titled “A User’s Guide to the Brain,” Dr. John Ratey wrote that musical education trains “the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once.”

Sponsors for the event did not reveal expected proceeds from the concert, but VH1 has been successful in raising funds for its foundation since its inception in 1997. In 2005, the foundation brought in revenues of more than $3.7 million and had expenses of more than $3.6 million. For 2006, those projections were $4.6 million in revenues and nearly $4.5 million in expenses.

Commercial real estate heavyweights Bixby Land Company, Maguire Properties, Arden Realty, LBA Realty and CB Richard Ellis are underwriting the event. The doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the concert beginning at 9 p.m. A limited number of tickets are on sale now. For more information contact Cindy Scott at [email protected] or 949-717-3164 or visit Save the Music.