Music festival celebrates talent, life of deceased 15-year-old

MARION — Musically gifted 15-year-old Nolan Gibbons of Marion died unexpectedly in 2020. His death was classified as Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood. 

Nolan’s parents, Sheila Gibbons and Warren Gibbons, were unable to have a funeral due to the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions. 

Instead, they hosted a celebration of Nolan’s life around his 16th birthday in July. 

The pandemic restrictions slowly lifted so the grieving parents rented a stage and asked Nolan’s friends and performing arts community to celebrate everything he loved together. Every year they now host the annual event and celebrate the non-profit they created. 

“We kind of moved from memorial service to memorial fund, and now we celebrate and we give grants and scholarships to emerging artists like Nolan,” Sheila Gibbons said. 

The couple turned their grief into good for the community by starting a non-profit to support musical education for young people in 2022. They have supported over 45 young artists and given away around $60,000 in scholarships. 

Now, NolanFest features many musicians who are somehow connected to Nolan either knowing him from school, singing or performing with him in his various groups or recipients of scholarships dedicated in his name. 

“I see this event as not necessarily honoring Nolan, but more honoring the things he loved,” Sheila Gibbons said. 

Brianna Lynch of Mattapoisett was one of the performers at the event and had received a scholarship from the Showstoppers choir dedicated in Nolan’s name. 

Lynch performed with Nolan in the Showstoppers and did theater with him at Old Rochester Regional High School. 

She said she hopes NolanFest shows young musicians to keep being interested in music and work as hard as Nolan did. She was always impressed by his skill and talent being a talented songwriting, musician, singer, arranger and producer. 

“I think it's important to honor his legacy because he was such a young talented songwriter and musician, and he just had a lot of passion for it,” Lynch said. “I think it's really important that we honor him so that other young people who are interested in music see that there's like a benefit to it.”

Lynch said she wants people to know what a “goofball” he was and how he made everyone laugh, but truly had an ear for music. 

Alongside the festival, two filmmakers were present making a documentary about Nolan. Corey Trench and Rob Smith are filmmakers from Los Angeles who were connected to Warren Gibbons through Trench’s father. 

Corey Trench’s father, also named Corey Trench, met Warren Gibbons at a grieving father’s group. Corey Trench Sr. lost his son and connected Warren Gibbons with his other son who made documentaries. 

Corey Trench Jr. had made a film about losing his brother and was interested in making a similar documentary about Nolan. 

Trench resonated with Nolan because of his creative spirit and wanting to create art. 

“What resonates with Nolan's story for me is he allowed himself to do things and put himself out there without fear of judgment of what people are going to think,” Trench said. 

Trench and the Gibbons’ do not know exactly what the film will look like yet, but have just started filming. They hope to have a trailer finished soon. 

“When I look at Nolan's creativity and his songwriting, it resonates with me because it reminds me of when I was his age and I was just making things,” Trench said. “I feel like I'm getting back to that and I feel like the film is that and it's like doing it for the sake of it.”