Everyone has music associated with memories throughout their lives, that has had a huge impact on them.
That was the theme of a concert organized by Truro Active Youth and performed Friday night at the Marigold Cultural Center.
Active youth member Emma Smit came up with the idea last fall after having a particularly bad day.
“When I started playing the piano it made it better. And it made me realize if one song can do that for me then what could a whole bunch of songs do for the world,” said Smit.
Her special song is Into the West, the ending theme of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
A young filmmaker who died of cancer at the age of 16 inspired the song. So every time Smit played it she would think of her sister’s friend who also died of cancer.
“For a birthday present all I asked for was that my friends learn the harmonies with me,” she said.
Active youth has been preparing for the big night since March. They held several auditions for the concert, open to anyone in the community with a story to tell through music.
The group inspired 15 acts on Friday night and sold about 100 tickets.
Not bad for a first time. The biggest issue was promoting the concert and getting people to audition, said fellow active youth Brendan Yorke.
“With anything when you start off and it’s a new thing people aren’t going to know about it,” he said.
But everyone was so excited about the concert it really wouldn’t have mattered how much work was needed, he said.
“Emma had such an awesome idea we couldn’t resist doing it.”
Smit and four of her friends got a deafening ovation after their performance and she was all smiles after getting off the stage.
“This is huge for me. It’s like sharing a big part of who I am with the community,” she said.