Community Corner

Southington Teens Have Olympic Dreams

Jesse Crofton, Nicholas Charlton and Dominic Pellegrini will be making a trip to the 2012 Summer Olympics as part of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts jazz choir.

Jesse Crofton, Nicholas Charlton and Dominic Pellegrini have never traveled to London before, but when they arrive there this summer it will be in a role they never anticipated for their first visit: they will be playing the main stage at Olympic Village.

The three Southington residents and jazz enthusiasts will be playing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in just a few weeks, part of an unexpected surprise for the recent graduates of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.

“We first heard about the opportunity in September 2011, but it had been so long, we assumed there was nothing coming of it. I thought I was about to graduate and move on when our teacher told us we’d be going to the Olympics,” said Crofton, 18.

It had been nine months since the students heard about the fact that Diane Mower, a music teacher at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, had submitted an application with the Olympic committee when she dropped the surprise on the entire jazz choir, Crofton said.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone every day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

They were sitting in class when Mower walked in and said that they were headed to London, a decision the Olympic committee made after seeing video of their first-place performance in the Berkley Music Competition.

“How many people can say they played the main stage at the Olympics or even been to the Olympics?” Charlton said in an interview last week. “It’s definitely a resume builder and it’s something we are all really excited about.”

It was a gift like no other for the students of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts jazz choir, who exceeded all expectations as they became one the region’s top singing groups over the course of the last year.

The group was able to go to Boston and take home first place in the Berkley Music Competition. Charlton, 18, said the jazz choir had never finished in the top three before and with challenges, including a broken cymbal stand, they weren’t expecting to win this time either.

But when they had their name announced as the first-place winner, Charlton said the jazz choir knew they had something special.

“Things just fell into place,” Charlton said. “I mean, a lot of us just do this because we enjoy music. We never expected to get to this point.”

Before the three Southington residents take their talents to London, however, they will first showcase them here in town in an effort to raise money for their trip. Lisa Crofton, Jesse Crofton’s mother, helped the teenagers book a special show on July 15 at , bringing together a variety of jazz performances with the good old fashioned barbecue of Chris Conlon for an afternoon of fun.

The three-hour show, running from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., offers a buffet style meal and entertainment at just $20 per ticket. All proceeds will go to helping fund travel expenses for the students’ trip to London.

“Chris has been a great contributor to the community and we were happy that he was willing to give us this opportunity,” said Lisa Crofton. “This is a great way for the students to prepare for their performance and they are looking to it.”

Make sure to like Southington Patch on Facebook or follow on Twitter for breaking news, daily updates and more!

Find out what's happening in Southingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here