A young cancer survivor got to write and illustrate a story and have it come alive on stage.
Sing Me a Story partnered with the Bowling Green High School Choir to give a 4-year-old cancer survivor an experience of a lifetime.
The Sing Me a Story Foundation creates music inspired by the creative stories of children in need. The foundation and choir partnered to give 4-year-old Colton Stanley a concert he will forever remember.
“The storyline is a typical one that you’d get from a toddler. Colton Ogg did a great job matching the music with the storyline,” said Beth Vaughn, director of choral activities at BGHS. “The first half of the piece is nostalgic, and the second half is more playful. Themes will come in and out of the song.”
Colton, 4, and his younger brother Connor, 3, were given the opportunity to write and illustrate a story about anything they wanted. Together, they wrote and illustrated a story titled “Colton and Connor’s Pirate Frog Adventure.” The story follows Colton and Connor on an epic pirate adventure that is particularly poignant as it reflects their resilience and imagination during a challenging time.
Ogg, second-year BGSU student double-majoring in music composition and choral music education, was the composer who put together Colton and Connor’s story and turned it into a piece for the choir.
“Sing Me a Story sent out a job application for a composer/songwriter. I was assigned to Colton and Connor’s project,” Ogg said. “The songwriting process was smooth. Going into it, I knew that the story would be wild and adventurous. I had the book to work with, which made the process fun and easygoing.
“The book follows the adventures of a 3-year-old and 4-year-old boy. The story goes all over the place, being wild in a sense,” Ogg said. “They tell the story of the frog pirates. Out of nowhere, a big fish comes in. I did my best to properly blend all of the story elements together.”
“This song is a neat way to show how music can bring people together,” Vaughn said. “The students realized that they are doing this for a great cause.”
The concert was held Oct. 8.
