‘Domingo and Friends’ for Quake Relief

Placido Domingo lost four relatives in the Mexican earthquake and has already donated $1 million from his concert fees to relief. The international opera star will be center stage again Tuesday at Universal Amphitheatre at 8 p.m. for Operation California. His “Placido Domingo and Friends” concert is a make-music-for-Mexico affair. The classical/pop concert, featuring music by the New American Orchestra and Jack Elliott, music director, is expected to raise $400,000 to benefit the 50,000 homeless victims of the massive disaster.

Dr. Armand Hammer, Occidental Petroleum chairman, will be honored on stage with Operation California’s Human Achievement Award for his aid to Mexico. Julie Andrews and John Denver have announced their support.

Sponsor tickets at $250 will entitle guests to the preconcert champagne reception at 6:30 and the post-concert buffet. They’re available at (213) 658-8876, the Operation California offices. Tickets at $25-$100 are available through the amphitheater.

“A Day at the Circus” on Sunday at the Sports Arena, in conjunction with the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus matinee, will have a dual purpose: to provide fun for young liver disease patients and to raise funds for liver disease research, education and patient services.

Polly Bergen is honorary chairman. Tom Hatten will be the special guest. Pat Love and Sandra Krause are co-chairing the event and Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles is a partial sponsor. The $30 donation includes menagerie tour at noon and the circus at 1 p.m.

Attendance is limited to 200, each of whom donates $750. The star-studded fund-raiser offers prizes including autos, VCRs, color TVs. It’s all part of the Celebrity Sweepstakes on Aug. 18 at the Hillcrest Country Club for Reiss-Davis Child Study Center, according to chairman Sam Greenebaum. Monty Hall and Jan Murray head the entertainment. Also in on the planning are Richard Gross, John Hyde, Paul Blackman, Larry Kraines, Reiss-Davis president George Konheim, Don Wolf, Harold Berlfein, Richard Burns, Donald Kaufman, Barry Berkowitz, Don Gillin and Milton Whitebook.

City of Hope president Abraham S. Bolsky has announced that a major contribution will establish the Lester M. and Irene C. Finkelstein Chair at City of Hope. “The interest of a perpetual endowment in the range of $1 million will fund the chair to be occupied by the chairman of the biology division of Beckman Research Institute,” Bolsky said. Dr. Arthur Riggs is current chairman. He was a key member of the City of Hope team that first synthesized human insulin in the laboratory. Mr. Finkelstein, who died in 1984, is survived by his widow.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is announcing completion of the first phase of construction on its new state-of-the-art Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center, the multi-sensory exhibit of scientific and historic objects. It will provide hands-on experiences for the more than 250,000 children who visit the museum annually.

Dr. Steve Bryen, deputy assistant secretary for international economic trade and security policy for the Department of Defense, and Gen. Wallace Nutting, expert on Middle East terrorism, were the duo speakers at the $100-per-couple cocktail party the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs hosted at the Breakers Hotel in Long Beach. The institute’s goal is education on the importance of a militarily strong United States.