On January 26th 2018, Music Compound hosted the first annual Shred the Love Concert. This concert was held to benefit the Music Heals Us Foundation. This organization, founded by a local teen, works to purchase ukuleles and provide lessons for children that are fighting cancer. Andrew Lakey, a senior at Suncoast Polytechnic School, and founder of Music Heals Us was the beneficiary of the event.
The entire event was planned and orchestrated by local high school students, including:
Andrew Lakey a Senior at Sarasota Polytechnic, served as Event Chair.
Caiti Henning a Senior at Lakewood Ranch High School, served as Creative Designer and Event Coordinator
Noelle O’Reilly a Freshman at Riverview High School, posted to the Community Calendars.
Trey Wanvig a Sophomore at Riverview High School, served as outreach volunteer.
Sage Wanvig an eighth grader at Laurel Nokomis, managed the decor and served as Volunteer Coordinator.
Kaylee Betts a Senior at Columbia Southern University, served as the Music Compound Liaison.
All of our committee members were responsible for the fundraising, auction item recruitment, and arranging the concert line up.
The Concert opened with a special guest appearance from the Hawaiian Shirts, a local band of ukulele enthusiasts. This act was followed up by a duet of two very talented Music Compound students, Sage Wanvig (also a committee member) and Maya Schultz. Both students take ukulele lessons at Music Compound, and decided to work together to perform at Shred the Love. Rickey Tedesco, a vocal student at Music Compound, performed several original songs. Following Rickey, Andrew Lakey, the founder of Music Heals Us, performed with his friend Kale who was a fellow cancer survivor and beneficiary of Music Heals Us. In total the event brought in over $5,000 dollars, and we look forward to planning next years event.
