The Yorktown Stage Rocks with Local Young Musicians and Pink Floyd

With her long blonde hair ready to go as if Taylor Swift had styled it herself, 7th-grader and country music fan Zerena Lupo from stepped out onto one of the largest stages of her young career, playing her original song “Our Last Night” before hundreds at the Yorktown Stage Friday evening for a fundraising concert for the Justin Veatch Fund.

Lupo was just one of many acts during the evening and standing to her left was professional violinist Daisy Jopling, who helped produce the evening’s opening act, a 50-minute set of various acts from 17 young aspiring musicians, most of whom had worked with Jopling over the summer through the Justin Veatch Fund’s summer workshops.

“These kids are amazing! I really have loved working with them and they are extremely talented,” Jopling boasted about the 17 performers, some of which would take the stage with Jopling during the evening as she offered violin accompaniment to some of their original songs.

Following the opening act from Danbury, Connecticut was Pink Floyd tribute band Beyond the Wall, who entertained the crowd with all five of their seasoned musicians who have more than 100 years of collective performing experience.

The evening’s events however were often brought back to the Fund’s namesake Justin Veatch, the late son of Jeffrey Veatch who was a musician himself and wrote many songs in his brief teenage years before passing away at the age of 17.

“When we established the non-profit three years ago, we always dreamed of a night like this where young musicians have a chance to get out of the coffeehouses and onto a real stage with a large audience so that they can continue to share their music,” remarked Veatch who was grinning ear to ear at the turnout of the crowd and the young musicians he had seen in the summer workshops now performing in a professional environment.

Three years ago, the fund began giving out yearly scholarships to high school musicians as well as hosting a variety of summer workshops for musicians and also teaming up with the Yorktown Teen Center for open-mic nights such as “First Fridays” and other events.

“Every community would benefit from an organization like this because everywhere you go there are talented young musicians who need guidance and positive outlets for their music as well as performance opportunities and mentoring,” Veatch said.

Veatch was also thankful for his relationship with the evening’s talented violinist, saying, “Daisy is very famous over in Europe and when she came to the U.S. a few years ago, she dedicated herself to not only her career but to mentoring young musicians and giving back.”

Mark Rothman came with his family including his 12-year-old son Daniel, who plays guitar and hopes to have his 15-minutes of fame someday, and seeing these kids up on stage goes a long way in planting a seed of motivation for his son.

"I think having ways for my son to showcase his musical talent even locally will be a very important thing for him as he gets older and what the Justin Veatch Fund is doing seems to be working and serving a real purpose in the community," said Rothman.

Check out the slideshow for some of the evening’s highlight and for more information about the Justin Veatch Fund, click here.