The Quinnipiac community came out in an impressive display of support last Saturday for the “Live for Liv” Olivia Marchand Benefit Concert held in Buckman Theater.
Marchand was a 17-year-old senior at Westford Academy in Westford, Mass., when she was murdered in a domestic violence incident on Feb. 1. She was planning to attend the University of Vermont in the fall.
Juniors Sarah Moler and Colleen Kelly, who co-organized the event, both graduated from Westford Academy. Both Moler and Kelly knew Marchand from the cheerleading team.
“It was a terrible tragedy that rocked our community,” Moler said. “We always hear about tragedies and nobody does anything. We wanted to do something.”
The two-and-a-half-hour concert was organized to promote domestic violence awareness and served as a reminder for everyone to appreciate their friends while they are here. The Facebook group for the event had than 400 people in support of their cause.
The concert consisted of 10 acts. Senior Meg Vandervort started the evening by playing the viola, accompanying a slideshow of domestic violence statistics and pictures of Marchand. The Labor Daze, an indie pop rock band comprised of four males from New Jersey, then played a 40-minute set. Junior John Greenlaw played acoustic guitar and covered popular songs “Sexy, Can I” by Ray J and“Collide” by Howie Day.
“I love playing whenever I can,” Greenlaw said. “Since it was for a cause like this, it was just icing on the cake for me. I’m really proud of the campus for coming out like this.”
Sophomore Brad DePrima then took the stage for a short comedic set. Junior Adam Hebert covered Frank Sinatra songs to the sound of the audience snapping. Members of Sigma Phi Epsilon lip-synced and danced to a medley of four formerly-popular *NSYNC songs.
Sophomore Carly Kaplan sang songs to an acoustic guitar. QU Step also performed and junior Kay Place played guitar and sang.
“We felt like [music] was the right way to get people together and in the right spirit,” Moler said.
There was a $5 admission fee and donations were accepted to set up a scholarship at Westford Academy in Marchand’s honor. They currently have raised $790 and their ultimate goal is to raise $1,000 before sending the money back home.
“I thought it was a great turnout,” Kelly said. “Everything went smoothly. We were so happy that people supported our cause. We can’t thank everyone enough for their help and support.”
