A Haiti earthquake relief fund-raiser featuring pianist Lang Lang, conductor Christoph Eschenbach, and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra scheduled for Sunday may not do much good for the cause. Of the $200,000 worth of tickets on sale, less than $8,000 of the proceeds will actually benefit Haitians, owing to extremely high overhead costs for renting out Carnegie Hall and marketing the event. Unicef, the recipient of the aid money for the event, is keeping a glass-half-full perspective on this mess, publicly stating that the show will still be helpful in keeping the recent tragedy in the public consciousness. Nevertheless, we’d be surprised if they stage more fund-raisers at Carnegie Hall anytime soon. [NYT]
