Mum's the word at junior high art fundraiser
Mother's Day felt more like March than May, but the weather didn't stop concert-goers at Old Rochester Regional High School.
Rochester native Rebecca Correia, who spends half of her year in Massachusetts and the other half in Nashville, performed. The concert, said Old Rochester Regional Junior High School Principal Kevin Brogioli, was arranged by eighth-grader Delaney Shaw. Shaw drew up the concert as a fundraiser for the new mural in the junior high courtyard - an idea that she conceived and coordinated from start to finish.
The concert was not only a fundraiser for the mural, but also for future arts projects at the junior high, Brogioli noted.
Correia, a 1999 graduate of the high school, was tickled to be back in the auditorium. "When I graduated, we were fundraising for the piano that's on this stage now," she said. "It's funny to be back here. I remember being here as a student, and I keep thinking of things I would tell my seventeen-year-old self."
Several of the songs that Correia performed, on both acoustic guitar and piano, were written while she was a student. Others were written with the help of "The Voice" winner Javier Colon and Nashville-based country singer RaeLynn Nelson. Correia also covered "You Were Always on My Mind" - a song made famous by RaeLynn's grandfather. ("I'll let you figure that one out," Correia said with a smile.)
Correia chose songs that she felt suited the theme of Mother's Day; they included "I Love You", a song she wrote about her grandfather, parents and relatives. She also played "Sonnet 30," a classical song that combined Latin texts with Shakespeare's verses. "Shakespeare was a co-writer. We wrote it on Skype. There was a few-second delay, but we got it worked out," she joked.
After the concert, fans lined up to buy records, pose for photos, or simply have a quick chat to reconnect.