An all-star lineup of local musicians will join together later this month for a unique new benefit concert celebrating life and supporting efforts for mental well-being and suicide prevention.
‘The Philosophy of Hope,’ will take place at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21 at The State Theatre to benefit the Jana Marie Foundation, the local nonprofit with a mission of promoting mental well-being among young people and the community through education, dialogue and creative expression.
The concert is one of several local events planned for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in September, including a suicide prevention rally at noon on Tuesday at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.
Musician Ken Baxter and his wife and show producer, Jenny Hwozdek, began planning a benefit concert for Jana Marie Foundation last fall. Baxter lost his youngest son, Alex, to suicide 10 years ago and his upcoming memoir, ‘The Philosophy of Arson,’ reflects on his experience since then. He also has composed original music as a soundtrack to the memoir, and some of those songs, along with covers, will be showcased at the concert.
‘That’s really what connected us to [Jana Marie Foundation’s] mission, because it has really touched Ken’s life so deeply,’ Hwozdek said. ‘His way of communicating to people is not only through words but through music. Wanting to do this show that is kind of following the arc because he’s had this personal experience and having this music to present for a concert was a perfect match.’
The couple wanted to change up the typical format of a benefit concert, where a collection of acts play one after another with a theme, and maybe a group jam at the end. Instead, the musicians at The Philosophy of Hope will form one band for the night.
That super-band will include Molly Countermine, Rene Witzke and Daryl Branford of Ted and the Hi-Fis, Liz Grove and Steve Christensen of Cone of Silence, Kelly Countermine and Mark Hill, Richard Sleigh, Doug Irwin and Eva George.
Baxter’s oldest son, Nicholai, a Los Angeles musician and Grammy-winning producer and engineer, will be flying in to play with his father for the first time in more than a decade. Nicholai Baxter has worked on soundtracks and scores for blockbuster films such as ‘A Star Is Born,’ ‘First Man,’ and ‘La La Land,’ to name just a few.
‘Ken will say that when he lost Alex he lost Nicolai in a lot of ways because of all the complexities that go with … when you lose a child that way,’ Hwozdek said. ‘Ken has really looked forward to this opportunity to play music again with Nicolai onstage and to come together to honor Alex. This has been a dream of his 10 years in the making to get to a point where he could make that dream happen. He’s really looking at this as a night of connecting and healing with Nicolai and honoring Alex.’
State College Area School District’s Delta Middle Level choir also will perform with the band.
‘We really wanted to find a way to bring young people into the show because Jana Marie’s big target audience is young people,’ Hwozdek said. ‘They do so much work in middle schools with kids at that very turbulent age when these kinds of programs really can take root and help create stronger mental and emotional resilience as they are moving into high school and getting older.’
Through a mix of originals and covers along with set design, the concert will follow a story arc throughout the night, one that starts with adversity but by the end of the night brings hope, Hwozdek said. The performance will honor both Alex Baxter and Jana Marie Vicere, whose death by suicide in 2011 led her sister, Marisa Vicere to found the Jana Marie Foundation.
‘Jana was very creative and very artistic. So Marisa has worked to use the arts, artistic expression, music, poetry, all of that in the programs she does with young people — the idea that you help young people find their voice and in finding your voice you find confidence and find grounding,’ Hwozdek said. ‘Marisa is a powerhouse. She’s really taken [the foundation] from its inception to where it is now in such a short time, made so much headway and created so much programming. This foundation is Marisa’s act of hope in a tragedy that happened in her family, in the way Ken’s writing music and this memoir is his act of hope in losing his son Alex.’
Community sponsorships and support for the benefit concert have been ‘fabulous,’ Hwozdek said, and she and Baxter hope to make it an annual event in the same way annual benefit shows for the Bob Perks Cancer Assistance Fund and Strawberry Fields at The State Theatre have become local traditions.
‘It’s going to be a really cool night,’ Hwozdek said. ‘We’re hoping it’s like nothing people have seen before. That’s our goal, to have people leave the evening having had not just a night of great music but to have had an experience that leaves people touched in some way.’
In addition to the Sept. 21 concert and Tuesday’s suicide prevention rally, several other events are planned for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
On Sept. 10, World Suicide Prevention Day, Jana Marie Foundation will host its seventh annual “Evening of Hope, Healing, and Remembrance” at Wasson Farm. It will include a community picnic at 5:30 p.m. and a program beginning at 6:30 p.m. with music by Biscuit Jam, dance performances, speakers and a candle lighting. The event is free, but attendees are asked to RSVP.
A screening of the documentary ‘Suicide: The Ripple Effect,’ will be held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 25 at State College Area High School. The film shares the story of Kevin Hines, who survived after attempting suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and went on to become a leading suicide prevention advocate. The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by WPSU’s Carolyn Donaldson. A $5 donation is suggested.
At noon on Sept. 26, the foundation’s Mokita Dialogues will focus on the topic of suicide. The dialogues are held monthly at New Leaf Initiative in the State College Municipal Building, with experts and community members discussing different issues affecting emotional and mental health.
Vicere said at last week’s Centre County Commissioners meeting that in Pennsylvania last year 2,023 people died by suicide and about 47,000 lives are lost to suicide annually in the United States.
‘To put that into perspective, it’s about the size of Yankees Stadium,’ Vicere said. ‘We continue to see an increase in the rate of suicide. We know that it is one of the most preventable kinds of death, so here at Jana Marie Foundation we believe education, awareness and having courageous conversations are really key to helping prevent suicide in our community.’
The foundation provides programs year-round and also offers training in areas such as ‘Question, Persuade, Refer,’ (QPR) suicide prevention and mental health first aid.
‘There are different ways to help take action,’ Vicere said. ‘Of course, always spread kindness. One of the biggest things we can do is just show kindness to one another.’
For more about Jana Marie Foundation programs and events, visit janamariefoundation.org.
