BMW Performance Series to Shine Spotlight on Urban Arts & Entertainment
Program To Benefit Community Scholarship Funds And Music Education





BMW of North America, LLC announced today the launch of its BMW Performance Series, an urban arts and entertainment program that includes the BMW Pop-Jazz Live Series, a seven-city tour featuring innovative jazz saxophonist Mike Phillips; and the BMW Blackfilm.com Film Series, a four-city independent black film screening series.

The BMW Pop-Jazz Live Series celebrates musical innovation by bridging jazz artistry with soul, funk, pop, rock and hip-hop. The tour features Mike Phillips, a NAACP Image Award nominee who has toured and collaborated with such artists as Stevie Wonder and Prince, and appeared at venues around the globe. Phillips has been the host and subject of jazz music showcases on Sirius satellite radio, and recently collaborated with neo-soul sensation Jill Scott. The tour will launch in New Orleans on August 17 and travel to Chicago, September 14; Washington, D.C., September 19; New York, September 21; Atlanta, September 28; San Francisco, October 10; and Los Angeles, October 12. Funds raised through the BMW Pop-Jazz Live Series will support music education in local communities through a partnership with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. VH1 will tape the Pop-Jazz Live event to be held in New York City for future broadcast.

The BMW Blackfilm.com Film Series, now in its third year, showcases emerging filmmakers and a diverse set of directors, actors and producers. The event will include discussion panels with writers, directors, and cast members of the screened films. The program benefits the college scholarship funds of local chapters of the National Black MBA Association. The Series will launch with "Premium." a Pete Chatmon picture featuring Hill Harper, with screening events in Los Angeles, August 4; Chicago, August 11; Atlanta, August 25, and Washington, D.C., September 28.



The BMW Performance Series is an invitation-only event

"Independent thinking is vital to the creative process, whether the context is film, music or creating the ultimate driving machine." said Tom Purves, chairman and CEO of BMW of North America, LLC. "The BMW Performance Series provides an opportunity to highlight creativity that we believe is the first of its kind. Urban films and film-making garner public and critical acclaim yet receive less attention than deserved from mainstream Hollywood. On the music front, Pop-Jazz is a burgeoning genre that is engaging a younger audience through its musical innovations."

"We created the BMW Performance Series to make a difference at the community level while supporting films and music that have particular appeal to urban audiences" said Angeli Gianchandani, National Experiential Marketing Manager, BMW of North America.