LAURINBURG — Just under 150 people attended the Foremusic Benefit Concert held Saturday at the Storytelling Arts Center in downtown Laurinburg, raising money for two local non-profit organizations.
Tickets were $10 per person, with proceeds going to the Arts Council of Scotland County and the Live Like Madison Foundation.
The Live Like Madison Foundation was started in memory of Madison Fedak, a local child who was taken by cancer at age 7. It is a non-profit dedicated to supporting childhood cancer research and families and children impacted by the disease.
The entertainment was provided by 23 teenage students of private music teacher Chris Fore. The students take weekly 30-minute lessons on instruments such as guitar, bass, drums, and piano. Some students also do vocals. Fore taught them the songs played in the concert in individual private lessons, but as showtime drew near, he got them together for group rehearsals.
The result was an hour-long concert covering hits by classic rock bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Beatles and newer music by singers like Adele and Lauren Daigle. Friends and family in the audience bobbed their heads in time to the music and cheered the nervous students on.
“This is the first time they’ve been on stage like this and in front of such a big crowd,” Fore said. “Normally, we do a recital for the parents at the end of the school year, but we do it at my church, so this is new to them.”
He said the parents at the recital loved it so much that they wanted it to happen again, and in considering how to make that happen, he thought of hosting the performance in the arts center.
“As a musician, I support the arts, and with Riley Fedak (Madison’s older sister) as one of my students, it just made sense,” said Fore. “I just wish I’d thought of doing something like this sooner.”
The show raised $1,480, which will be split between the Arts Council of Scotland County and the Live Like Madison Foundation.