President Clinton to Speak in Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on April 5th and April 6th

LOS ANGELES— Former President Bill Clinton will make a return to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Music Center Speaker Series on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 and Thursday, April 6, 2006. Also on the distinguished roster of experts: Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Salman Rushdie, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), Carlos Fuentes, Nina Totenberg, Paul Rusesabagina and Thomas L. Friedman.

"President Clinton was one of our most popular speakers in 2005 and we are pleased that he has chosen to return to Los Angeles as part of the 2006 Music Center Speaker Series,” said Stephen D. Rountree, President of the Music Center. “President Clinton's ongoing involvement in global relief efforts gives him a unique perspective on the events of the past eight months. We’re glad to offer an opportunity to hear him share that perspective."

The 2006 Music Center Speaker Series is presented in two separate series at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Series A includes Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Salman Rushdie, Former President Bill Clinton, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), and Carlos Fuentes. Series B includes Dan Rather, Nina Totenberg, Paul Rusesabagina, Former President Bill Clinton, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), and Thomas L. Friedman. (Complete schedule follows)

Tickets for the Music Center Speaker Series, including President Clinton, are currently available by subscription only until January 15. Subscribers will receive the best available seating. To subscribe, visit www.musiccenter.org or call (213) 972-3494.

The Music Center Speaker Series is produced by Alan Rothenberg and Dan Savage of SR Productions in collaboration with the Music Center of Los Angeles County. City National Bank is the presenting sponsor of the Speaker Series and KCRW, KMZT and Los Angeles Magazine are media sponsors.

2006 Music Center Speaker Series

Dan Rather Thursday, January 26, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Dan Rather, former anchor and managing editor for CBS Evening News, is currently a 60 Minutes correspondent. His seventh book, The American Dream was recently published. For decades, Rather's street smarts and astute analysis has been showcased by covering the world's major news stories, from the assassination of President Kennedy, to the civil rights movement, U.S. involvement in war and present day peace efforts. He has received virtually every honor in broadcast journalism, including numerous Emmy and Peabody Awards and other citations. In 35 years with CBS News, Rather's prestigious positions included co-editor of 60 Minutes, anchor of CBS Reports and the CBS Evening News, CBS News bureau chief in London and Saigon and White House correspondent during the Johnson and Nixon administrations.

Bill Moyers Monday, February 6, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
During his long career in broadcast journalism Bill Moyers was recognized as one of the unique voices of his generation. During his thirty plus years in the media, he has received more than 30 Emmys from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and two prestigious Gold Baton awards from the Alfred I duPont Columbia University Award, nine Peabody awards, and three George Polk Awards, including the Career Achievement Award. His several books include the following bestsellers: Listening to America, The Power of Myth, Healing and the Mind, The Language of Life, and, most recently, Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times. He is president of The Schumann Center for Media and Democracy.

Salman Rushdie Wednesday, March 1, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Salman Rushdie, arguably one of the most controversial writers of our time, won the 1988 Whitbread Award with his fourth book, The Satanic Verses, causing an international storm so loud that it temporarily all but obliterated his own identity. It was banned in India, throughout the Muslim world and in South Africa. The Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (death sentence) forcing Rushdie into hiding in 1989, where he remained until the fatwa was officially lifted in 1998. Rushdie's first book was published in 1975 and his next novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize. Rushdie has shunned publicity since the religious decree, but continues to publish poetry, fiction and nonfiction. His newest novel Shalimar the Clown has just been published.

William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
Wednesday, April 5, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
William Jefferson Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, and again in 1996. Under his leadership, the United States enjoyed the strongest economy in a generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. Clinton currently focuses much of his time on the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, established to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. To accomplish this mission, the Foundation currently focuses its work in five critical areas: the battle against HIV/AIDS; racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation; citizen service; economic empowerment of poor people; and leadership development.

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.)
Monday, April 10, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
General Powell, former Secretary of State, brought extensive experience to that office, having served as a key aide to the Secretary of Defense and as National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He served 35 years in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Four-Star General. While Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he oversaw the 1989 Panama intervention, Operation Desert Storm, and the victorious Persian Gulf War. Powell's autobiography, My American Journey, was a bestseller. His numerous U.S. military and civilian awards and decorations include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President's Citizen Medal, and the Congressional Gold Medal. His many international awards include honorary knighthood bestowed by H.M. Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, and the French Legion of Honor.

Carlos Fuentes Thursday, April 27, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Carlos Fuentes is one of the greatest literary and political figures in the Spanish-speaking world. The celebrated novelist and critic has published fifteen novels in the United States, many of them best sellers, as well as short stories, essays, political commentary, and articles for scholarly and popular publications. His latest books are In This I Believe, and the political novel, The Eagle's Throne. He helped produce and narrate "The Buried Mirror," a historical television series about Spanish culture, also published as an illustrated book. A past instructor at some of the world's most venerable academic institutions, Fuentes received highest literature honors, including Venezuela's Romulo Galegos Prize, Mexico's National Prize in Literature, and Spain's prestigious Miguel de Cervantes Prize. The French and Brazilian Academies' inaugural Latin Civilization Award are among his many international honors.

Dan Rather Friday, January 27, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
See description in SERIES A

Nina Totenberg Friday, February 17, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio's award-winning legal affairs correspondent, reports regularly on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition and ABC's Nightline and is an Inside Washington panelist. Her 1991 report about Law Professor Anita Hill's allegations of sexual harassment by Judge Clarence Thomas led to re-opening Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation hearings, winning the Peabody Award for NPR and the Joan S. Barone Award for Totenberg. She has an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, numerous honors from the American Bar Association and holds many honorary degrees. She was twice named one of the "Women We Love," by Esquire. Her articles have appeared in major publications including The Harvard Law Review. Totenberg served as New Times Magazine's Washington editor, and as the National Observer's legal affairs correspondent.

Paul Rusesabagina Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 8 p.m. • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Eleven years ago, as Rwanda descended into madness, one man, Paul Rusesabagina, made a promise to protect the family he loved—and ended up finding the courage to save over 1,200 people hiding them at the Diplomate Hotel, where he was general manager. Over the course of 100 days, almost one million people were killed in Rwanda. His story was made into United Artists and Lion's Gate Films' production of last year's hit film, Hotel Rwanda. Rusesabagina served as special consultant on the film. Rusesabagina has worked as a businessman and owns a transport company. He is also still involved in charitable organizations aiding survivors of the Rwandan tragedy and has set up the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation to help the relief effort. His book, An Ordinary Man, is to be published this spring.

William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
Thursday, April 6, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
See description in SERIES A

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.)
Tuesday, April 11, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
See description in SERIES A

Thomas L. Friedman Tuesday, May 16, 2006, 8:00 p.m. • Walt Disney Concert Hall
Author of the best seller, The World is Flat, Friedman is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner for the New York Times. He has been the newspaper's foreign affairs columnist on the Op-Ed page since January 1995. His book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, a New York Times Best Seller, won the 1989 National Book Award for non-fiction and the 1989 Overseas Press Club Award for Best Book on Foreign Policy. He next authored The Lexus and The Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, receiving an Overseas Press Club award for best nonfiction book on foreign policy. The four documentaries he produced aired on the Discovery Channel. He been awarded honorary degrees from several universities, and received the New Israel Fund Award for Outstanding Reporting from Israel.