By Daybreak Hatfield

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — On April 22, music fanatics poured into St. Clair Memorial Corridor in Greenville to welcome Sons of Serendip, a self-described “musical group of 4 mates, who by a collection of serendipitous occasions, got here collectively in graduate faculty at Boston College. They’ve every been enjoying their devices since childhood, however in 2014, they got here collectively to start what they know will probably be a protracted stunning journey of making music that touches individuals’s hearts.” Following a really profitable run on “America’s Bought Expertise” (AGT) Season 9, the place they completed in fourth place, the group has since launched 4 albums and has been touring throughout america, performing 60 to 100 exhibits per 12 months, “hop[ing] their music will resonate deeply with listeners and that, indirectly, it’ll make their lives a little bit higher – even when only for a second.”

Thought-about part of the classical crossover style, Sons of Serendip’s core members embody Micah Christian, a former trainer from Randolph, Mass., because the lead vocalist of the group; Cordaro Rodriguez, a former legal professional from Charlotte, N.C., because the pianist and guitarist; Kendall Ramseur, a former cello teacher from Charlotte, N.C., because the cellist and extra vocalist; and Mason Morton, who’s a former trainer from Atlanta, Ga., because the harpist for the quartet. On this particular evening, Nate Taylor, from Philippines and Washington, D.C., performed cello and offered further vocals. Taylor additionally shared a particular story of how, at age 5, watching an episode of “Sesame Avenue” with Elmo and visitor musician, Yo-Yo Ma, sparked a love of cello deep inside him. Along with enjoying with Sons of Serendip, Taylor additionally performs with Palaver Strings, a musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit group primarily based in Portland, Maine.

With poise and style, lead vocalist, Micah Christian, started the present with modern pop favourite, “Someplace Solely We Know,” artfully organized to characteristic the magnificence of cello, harp, and keys. Traditional rock hits like “Carry On Wayward Son” sounded as if they had been all the time meant to be performed by this quartet. Taylor’s haunting cello solo of “No person Is aware of the Bother,” which he as soon as performed in duet with Yo-Yo Ma, left the viewers speechless. Two Stevie Marvel hits, an unimaginable association of Chris Issak’s “Depraved Recreation,” and exquisite originals peppered all through the two-plus-hour present, like “Butterflies Fly Away” from their most up-to-date album, “Mosaic,” blended seamlessly from one to the following.

Greater than only a musical efficiency, tales and which means got here flooding from the stage. Christian launched “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, as “a tune about hope.” Christian equated hope to “lighting a candle on a darkish highway.” He stated, “It received’t present you what lies too far forward, but it surely casts simply sufficient mild so that you can see your approach out of the current darkness. What’s stunning about this picture,” Christian continued, “is that when two or extra come along with their candles of hope, they dispel extra of the darkness and are in a position to see farther forward, and so they turn into beacons for others to search out their approach. Have hope.”

After a roaring standing ovation, Sons of Serendip shared an encore of Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that blanketed the gang with a way of unity and left many reeling with emotion in addition to music.

Simply how did this miraculous group discover each other?

Rodriguez was residing with Morton and Ramseur when he first linked with Christian. Christian stated, “After I first met Cordaro, he stated one in every of his roommates was a cellist and one was a harpist. And I believed—oh, cool. I had a special imaginative and prescient in my head of what they had been gonna appear like. I confirmed up and was like, ‘Oh, you’re the cellist!’ after which I noticed Mason and stated, ‘And YOU’RE the harpist!’ I discussed, ‘Yeah, I sing—guys, there may very well be one thing right here.” Again in 2012 there have been jokes about probably doing one thing, but it surely wasn’t till later that an actual alternative elicited motion.

When Christian first broached the concept of auditioning for AGT, Rodriguez was up for it. He spoke to the opposite guys, and everybody agreed, “Yeah, why not?” Christian recalled, “We acquired collectively and instantly, after we began to rehearse and go over songs, we immediately felt synergy. Instantly, we felt linked musically and felt like we complemented one another very well.”

Per Wikipedia, the quartet has carried out at iconic live performance halls and performing arts facilities, together with Boston’s Symphony Corridor, and The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and has additionally been featured visitors at a number of charitable and personal occasions, together with Oprah Winfrey’s 2020 Imaginative and prescient Tour closing social gathering, Hank Aaron’s Chasing the Dream Basis, Inc., the Ron Burton Humanitarian Award Dinner, and One Household’s fifteenth anniversary gala, the place they opened for John Legend. Sons of Serendip has additionally collaborated with numerous orchestras, such because the Boston Pops, the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, oftentimes performing orchestrations written, organized, and notated by pianist, Cordaro Rodriguez, and cellist, Kendall Ramseur.

Go to sonsofserendip.com for data on the band’s newest music and information. To be taught extra about Taylor and Palaver Strings, go to palaverstrings.org.

Attain Every day Advocate Reporter Daybreak Hatfield at [email protected] or 937-569-0066.

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