Ronnie Polaneczky: Rotterdam orchestra to play benefit concert for high-risk neuroblastoma patient

AS REQUESTS GO, Tammy Fine's was insane.

An American living in Holland, Tammy contacted me for help in arranging a benefit concert in Philly for a Dutch child who has Stage IV, high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and deadly childhood cancer that attacks the nervous system.

But this wasn't to be any old toot-fest, Tammy said. Ideally, it would be a full program performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin.

Orchestral-music lovers are well-acquainted with the dashing maestro. At 34, he's a charismatic star in the classical-world firmament: music director of the Rotterdam, artistic director of the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic.

Last month, he made his dazzling debut with the New York Metropolitan Opera, conducting "Carmen" to gushing reviews. And his guest appearances here have so charmed audiences and musicians, he's on the short list of candidates to lead the Philadelphia Orchestra, which is without a music director.

Anyway, Tammy explained, Nezet-Seguin and the Rotterdam Philharmonic were scheduled to appear in Lincoln Center's "Great Orchestras" series in New York in February, with one day off - the 18th - between performances. The musicians hoped to spend it in Philly, performing a fundraising concert for 12-year-old Hannah Max, the Dutch neuroblastoma patient.

But why Philly? And why, pray tell, was Tammy contacting me for help?

Hannah's parents, Tammy explained, are violinist Rachel Browne and timpanist Randy Max, longtime members of the Rotterdam (Tammy knows them through her husband, Michael Fine, the Rotterdam's Grammy-winning artistic director.) Rachel and Randy need to shift Hannah's medical care from Holland to Philadelphia, where Children's Hospital has accepted her into a cutting-edge immunotherapy program unavailable to Hannah in her homeland.

Rachel and Randy, however, haven't the up-to-$400,000 it may cost to pay CHOP for treatment that could boost Hannah's survival odds from a dismal 30 percent to a more-hopeful 50 percent. (Hannah's insurance will not pay for her overseas care.) The Rotterdam orchestra members already had planned a fundraising concert for Hannah in Holland, in March. But, they asked themselves, "How great would it be to also hold a benefit in Philly, while we're on our U.S. tour?" Tammy made it her mission to make it happen.

An online search led her to my Dec. 2 story about little Kyler VanNocker, a local neuroblastoma patient whose family has been battling Kyler's insurance carrier over medical coverage.

In Tammy's eyes, this made me the logical point person to get the ball rolling for the Rotterdam's scheme.

"What do you think?" she asked.

I looked at the calendar. It was Jan. 7. That left just six weeks to find a venue, get the orchestra into town, promote the concert to the right audiences and figure out how to channel proceeds to a fund (yet to be established, mind you) to purchase care that might save a very sick child's life.

The project seemed impossible. But so did the notion that a little girl might die because her parents hadn't the money to save her.

"Let's see what we can do," I said.

Hannah Max, who just turned 12, adores horses, her favorite school subject is math and she loves nothing more than scouting out new sushi restaurants with her dad, Randy (who hails from Missouri).

After her diagnosis last June, she tolerated her initial surgeries and therapies with such cheerful aplomb, her doctors and nurses were stunned. She has just come through a much more difficult course of high-dose chemo, which has resulted in a heartbreaking hearing loss, yet she never complains, says her mother, Rachel.

"All she wants is to get back to school and back to having fun," Rachel told me last week. "She has such a fiery spirit." Rachel and husband Randy were panicked to learn that their insurance wouldn't cover Hannah's care at CHOP, to which their oncologist in Rotterdam referred them. Although CHOP is willing to work with them, the family still needs to come up with funds to get the treatment started.

"Holland doesn't have the culture of medical philanthropy that America has," says Randy Max, Hannah's dad. "Health-care coverage is quite good," so there's not much need for fundraisers.

Hence their desperate need for fundraising help, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Every dream needs a dogged sherpa to guide it to fruition. Over the last four weeks, the Concert for Hannah has found two:

Jeff Benjamin and Lee Shlifer.

Jeff is co-owner of Philly's landmark Vetri and Osteria restaurants. With business partner and chef extraordinaire Marc Vetri, he also runs the Vetri Foundation for Children, which supports kids' causes (among them Alex's Lemonade Stand, founded by the late Alex Scott, who, like Hannah, had neuroblastoma).

Jeff was one of a handful of well-connected locals whom I contacted on Tammy's behalf.

It's an understatement to say that Jeff took on this project as if Hannah was his own daughter.

In the midst of the chaos of opening yet another fabulous new eatery - Amis - he darted around town, scouting possible concert venues that might accommodate a full-size orchestra. But the Kimmel Center, the Academy of Music and other halls already were booked for Feb. 18.

"It didn't seem like anything was going to happen," said Jeff, who was in constant contact with Tammy, who was trying to pull levers of her own from Holland. "It was so frustrating."

Finally, he connected with Bill Swoope at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, who offered PAFA's small auditorium and gorgeous gallery spaces on North Broad Street for whatever use the Rotterdam needed.

"We couldn't fit the whole orchestra on the stage, but Tammy thought maybe some smaller Rotterdam ensembles could perform," says Jeff. "If we threw in a dinner, where everyone could meet the maestro, maybe it could still be special."

By now, Lee Shlifer had gotten involved. The owner of Signature Investment Realty and a passionate, high-level patron of Philly's classical arts, he enlisted everyone in his extensive Rolodex for help.

Including Elizabeth Warshawer and Roberto Diaz - respectively, executive vice president and president of the Curtis Institute of Music - who told Lee, "Whatever you need, let us know."

So now, four weeks after that initial call to the Daily News, here is how Tammy Fine's dream for Hannah has unfolded:

On the evening of Feb. 18, members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic will perform several ensemble pieces - the program is still in the works - preceded by cocktails and followed by a fabulous, sit-down dinner in a PAFA gallery, at which patrons will meet Maestro Nezet-Sequin. Marc Vetri will design the menu, which will be prepared by PAFA vendor Duffy Catering.

Curtis is providing technical and artistic support, and, thanks to Shlifer's connections, a growing number of arts organizations are doing e-mail blasts to their members about the event.

About 150 tax-deductible tickets are available, at $250 per head, and can be purchased through the Vetri Foundation (www.vetrifoundation.org), which is accepting all donations on Hannah's behalf.

The fundraising goal: $50,000.

If permissions can be arranged, the Daily News will even live-stream the concert - which, I am delighted to announce, yours truly will emcee.

"This is incredible!" said Hannah's mom, with whom I spoke last week about the philanthropic extravaganza unfolding in Philly on her daughter's behalf. "We can't believe that people who don't even know us would do something like this for Hannah."

As we spoke, Hannah rested in her bedroom. She was having a good day, Rachel said, and might even be well enough to travel to Philly in a week or so to begin treatment at CHOP.

If so, perhaps she'll feel well enough to attend the concert being held in her name. Which might eclipse the star presence of Yannick Nezet-Seguin.

Not that he minds.

"One of the most unfair tragedies in this world is to see a child affected with a terrible disease," the maestro wrote me in an e-mail last week, as he prepared for his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic.

"As musicians, we have the privilege to bring joy, dreams and hope to the people who listen to music; as an orchestra, we have an additional privilege: We are a big family!"

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/polaneczky. Read Ronnie's blog at http://go.philly.com/ronnieblog.