The great Tony Bennett will be honored by the city of San Francisco for a weekend in August.
Bennett, who will be 90 on August 3, will have an eight foot bronze statue unveiled at Nob Hill on the lawn of the Fairmont San Francisco on Friday, August 19 at Noon.
Bay Area sculptor Bruce Wolfe began work on the statue at the beginning of the year and is currently putting the finishing touches on the sculpture in his studio in Piedmont, California. Mr. Wolfe has also created statues of Willie L. Brown, Jr., George P. Shultz, Steve Silver and Harvey Milk. The statue was funded by private contributions to the San Francisco Special Events Committee.
Taking part in the dedication will be Bennett, Mayor Edwin M. Lee, former Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., San Francisco Giants’ CEO Larry Baer, Regional Vice President & General Manager of Fairmont San Francisco, Paul Tormey, Chief of Protocol, City and County of San Francisco and State of California, Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, San Francisco Boys Chorus, San Francisco Girls Chorus and SFJAZZ High School All Stars Combo.
Mayor Brown said “Tony Bennett and San Francisco are inseparable. A statue of a great American performing artist usually happens in the birthplace of the artist. Throughout the world, people associate San Francisco as being Tony Bennett’s home for one reason and one reason only – his signature song I Left My Heart in San Francisco. This 8-foot-tall statue on the greens of Fairmont San Francisco says to the world: Tony Bennett is home.”
That evening, at AT&T Park, Bennett will be honored at the San Francisco Giants/New York Mets game. Along with salutes before and during the game, Bennett will also perform his signature song for the fans.
Finally, on Saturday night, August 20, a benefit dinner will be held at the Fairmont’s Venetian Room, the same venue where he performed I Left My Heart in San Francisco for the first time live. Bennett will perform with his orchestra. Proceeds from the evening will support The Tony Bennett Fund for Emergency Pediatric Care at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco Special Events Committee.
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