At the March 22 Acoustic Wilton concert, Wilton High School photography students Kate Bell, Luisa Goncalves and Grace Deluca took hundreds of photos before and during the show, including behind the scenes images. In the days after, they assembled the shots into a project under the direction of WHS photography teacher Sue Brandt. As Acoustic Wilton head Scott Weber wrote on the group’s Facebook page, the photos “totally capture the spirit of our project. Thanks again to Sue and the students for helping us ‘play it forward.'”
Acoustic Wilton is a group of Wilton musicians and singers–students and adults together–who volunteer their time and talents to raise money and building awareness for Wilton-based causes. Affiliated with the Wilton Education Foundation, they also perform on behalf of Relay for Life, Wilton Youth Council, The Wilton Playhouse and many other organizations.
GOOD Morning Wilton asked Kate Bell–who also writes for us–to pen something about the experience of photographing the concert and to pull some of her favorite images from the project together. Enjoy the vision she’s curated from the collection, to see how these different student artists came together to make something unique. To see more, you can visit the photography project’s Facebook page.
In Kate’s words:
Having never previously seen Acoustic Wilton, I was completely blown away by how much talent and heart went into every song performed. Usually I am not one for acoustic music but even I was happily tapping my foot along with the music, while snapping away with my camera.
The most incredible part, though, besides the music was witnessing how close as a group they are. Even though the group has members as young as in Middle school and some well into adulthood, there is a real bond between the groups, evidenced by an impromptu jam session that had started right before the show. Each person brings his or her own unique talents and experiences to the group, creating just the right blend of soul and music which–just by watching the countless YouTube videos, and going to an event–is very apparent.
The other impressive part about Acoustic Wilton is why they play. Scott Weber created the group in 2009 to honor his mother, who had passed away from stage IV melanoma. Her dying wish was that Scott “pay it forward” with his music–or as he says, “play it forward.” After five years of performing Scott Weber, and the rest of the Acoustic Wilton musicians, have done more than just play it forward–they have brought a community together to enjoy a shared love of music, and created something truly special.
