More than 400 guests attended the Center for the Performing Arts’ 2019 Songbook Celebration presented by Krieg DeVault. The Sept 21 black-tie gala at the Palladium featured performances by Dionne Warwick, Michael Feinstein, local blues artist Tad Robinson and 2019 Songbook Youth Ambassador Sadie Fridley. The evening included the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame inductions of songwriter Paul Williams, who attended in person, and the late composer-bandleader Duke Ellington, who was represented by his granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, a Broadway dancer and choreographer. Tony Bennett and the late Doris Day also were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The event netted more than $300,000 to support the center’s artistic and educational programming. (Photos by Sara C Imagery)
