A concert for good

Students and a teacher perform for people during A Concert For Good at the Marion Theatre in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. From left: Caleb Lombardo, Adam Pryor, Raenard Manaois, Olivia Fries, Isabelle Martinez and Matthew Manassian. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted January 7, 2022 | By Rosemarie Dowell
Special to the Gazette

A holiday concert organized by two benevolent teenage brothers raised some much-needed funds for two local non-profits recently.

Siblings Luke and Caleb Lombardo, ages 13 and 16 respectively, organized the Dec. 29, “Tis Always the Season Concert for Good,” as a way to give back to the community during the Christmas season.

The fundraising concert, held at the Marion Theatre in Ocala, raked in an amazing $7,500 that was split evenly between two charities, Brother’s Keeper and the Marion County Children’s Alliance.

Featuring more than a dozen Christian and inspirational songs, along with a few Christmas tunes, the concert lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

“It was such a cool experience; I’m really proud of everyone that came and helped,” said Caleb, a sophomore at West Port High School, a visual/performing arts magnet program of Marion County Schools, who sang vocals and played the piano.

Luke, an eighth-grader at Blessed Trinity Catholic School, said he was surprised when he peeked at the crowd just before showtime and realized 250 people were in the theatre.

“I didn’t think that many people would show up,” said Luke, who emceed the event and got to wear his beloved Crispy Crème sweater. “I was in awe; it was great.”

Other classmates/friends/musicians that cemented the concert’s success include drummer Raenard Manaois, as well as vocalists Olivia Fries and Izzy Martinez.

Also, vocalist Matthew Minassian, a freshman at Belmont University in Nashville, and Adam Pryor, a music teacher and choir director at Blessed Trinity Catholic School who also sang vocals and played the guitar.  Pryor mentors and leads the high school musicians in the Teen Life Band at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church too.

The concert’s genesis began when the brothers were thinking of ways to give to others during the Christmas season. Each year, their parents, Adam and Lisa Lombardo encourage the siblings to take on a charitable project for the community, and in the past, they’ve chosen food and books drives.

This year, the music-and-performing-arts-loving boys brainstormed and came up with a way to capitalize on their mutual passion in a unique way – a concert. After their parents agreed to cover the costs of the facility’s rental and other things needed to pull it off, the brothers did the rest.

“There were a lot of people saying yes in the spirit of Christmas; from their friends and fellow musicians to the 13 sponsors to the community that embraced the idea,” said Lisa Lombardo, chief people and culture officer at HDG Hotels. Adam Lombardo is market president of Renasant Bank.

“I felt like I was listening to the JOY FM during the concert,” she said. “It was uplifting and inspirational.”

As for the 2022 Christmas season, the brothers agree another concert should take place.

“It went so well we’ve already got people asking if we’d do it again,” said Caleb. “I think we will, but it will be a whole new concert with different songs.”