Stockland Martel

A wide range of members of the creative community—from Lady Gaga and Linkin Park to photographer Aline Smithson and gallerist Crista Dix, who together organized Life Support Japan—have been doing their part to contribute to the relief efforts for Japan. Last week, for example, a hefty $34,000 was raised at a star-studded benefit concert March 27 in New York for the relief effort in Japan.

The show, which was organized by musician John Zorn, featured performances by Yoko Ono, Sonic Youth, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto, and Mike Patton, among others. It was a tough ticket to get—the concert, held at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, sold out in two hours, reported Jon Pareles in his review in The New York Times—but Timothy Greenfield-Sanders was there. “It was a fantastic show,” says Timothy. Here’s a photo he took backstage of Sean, Yoko, Antony Hegarty, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith.

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From left: Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, Antony Hegarty, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith backstage at the Concert to Benefit Japan Earthquake Relief at the Miller Theatre in New York. Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, via The Huffington Post.

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To learn more about the event, visit its Facebook page, and to see photos of the performances, check out the concert’s Flickr gallery. To make a donation to the relief effort, visit the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, created by the Japan Society in New York. It has already committed $1 million to four nonprofit organizations in Japan—a modest sum given the estimated $300 billion that the earthquake and tsunami will reportedly cost the Japanese government. But it’s an important start and, with everyone’s help, will surely add up.

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