Song: "Loch Lomond"
Traditional Scottish Song
Choral Arrangement: Jonathan Quick
Choir: Carroll College Concert Choir
Soloist: Ryan McEldowny
The Vermont All-State Chorus performed this song at festival a few years back and I had the honor of judging the first cut of auditions for the solo. Several students made strong but unspectacular attempts. Finally, one pretty but very sheepish freshman girl sang for us and blew us away. The voice was gorgeous, of course, but her timid persona also added greatly to the character of the piece. We sent three finalists to the conductor but the choice was obvious. In the concert, she knocked it out of the park. All in attendance were thoroughly charmed - one of the great musical moments of my life. Her name was Sigrid Bronner.
A year or so later, this wonderfully talented girl was killed in an automobile accident. The car Sigrid was in crashed into a school bus on an icy road. The whole Vermont high school choral world mourned the loss and several schools around the state programmed the piece in her memory.
As beautiful as the song is, I can't help thinking of Sigrid. What a terrible loss it must have been for her family, her friends, her school and her community. How privileged we all were to have witnessed her in a moment of such perfect beauty.
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I hope you'll join us for the "30 Songs in 30 Days" challenge, inspired by the tumblr list. Our 30 Songs roster:
Stay on target...
Marc Whitman's Blog
Haley says "Hello" To You
It's never too late to post your own. Tomorrow is...
Day 5: A Song That Reminds You of Someone
Googling her name shows she is still a strong "presence" among those that knew her....
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
What a beautiful song and tribute to her, thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI still think of her from time to time and I barely knew her. Such a horrible loss.
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