Hear it here. Warning tears.
https://soundcloud.com/mandy-leah-oliver/coldplay-tribute-for-the-seago-family
NORTHFIELD — Sitting before her keyboard Wednesday evening, Mandy Oliver played the tune she now knew so well, leading in a group of over 30 Pioneer Valley Regional School students, faculty, parents and community members.
Swinging to the music, the group melodiously sang “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you,” the start of a five-minute song Oliver composed in memory of the five members of the Seago family who died in a house fire in Warwick on March 4.
The loss of Lucinda Seago, 42, and four of her children Peter, 7, Demetria, 9, Martin, 12, and Nicholas, 15, devastated the community, which rallied together in support of the family’s two surviving members, Lucinda’s husband Scott Seago and their daughter Vivian. Having taught Martin and Nicholas in theater classes, Oliver, a fine arts instructor at Pioneer, wanted to do something special in the family’s memory, organizing a community singing event.
Gathering in Pioneer’s gym, community members rehearsed and recorded an arrangement Oliver composed based on words in one of Nicholas’ final creative writing assignments about flying up to the sky, combined with lyrics from three Coldplay songs, including “Yellow” at the suggestion of a student.
http://bit.ly/2phHkki
Many of the students who attended agreed singing can aid in the mourning process.
“It’s a good coping mechanism for some people,” explained Pioneer senior Madison Tyson of Vernon, Vt. “Singing can get their feelings out.”
“Singing’s a good expression and this song represents so many emotions,” elaborated Pioneer sophomore Cambria Johnson of Erving, who was one of Nicholas’ classmates.
The students remembered Nicholas as being smart and confident, and Martin as just beginning to grow comfortable within the Pioneer community.
“He’d always correct our math teacher,” Johnson said of Nicholas. “Nick wasn’t afraid to be himself.”
“Martin was really just starting to come out of his shell,” added Pioneer senior Alisha Mueller of Northfield.
Mueller spoke of the many tears she shed upon first hearing about the fire, and that Nicholas and Martin wouldn’t be returning to school. She wasn’t alone, said Danielle Anderson of Orange, whose daughter Emma Langston got to know Martin through one of Oliver’s classes.
“She had Martin in her class and really had a fondness for him,” Anderson said. “It was really devastating for her to get up one morning and he’s just gone.”
To support her daughter, Anderson attended the community singing event along with her friend Sherri Healy of Greenfield. The musical tribute attracted both those who knew the Seagos well, and those who hadn’t met them but wanted to offer support nonetheless.
“I didn’t know the family, but it’s the community coming together to do something positive,” Healy said. “There’s nothing more positive than singing and music.”
“I feel personally for everyone, so I feel good coming here today,” Tyson said.
Anderson and Healy commented on the “amazing turnout.” The event “went exactly how I hoped, if not more,” Oliver said, after the final recording, one that she plans to send to Scott and Vivian Seago.
“Just whenever the community can come together over music, that’s my goal,” she said. “I think it came out beautiful.”
