Toward the end of last year (2020), Becci Smith of the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area Chapter in Northern California received five-year-old Valeria’s wish to sing on a big stage and decided to contact the team at the Concord (California) Pavilion, with the subsequent display of cooperation between entertainment technology professionals making it happen, including Some More Sound deploying CODA Audio APS loudspeakers for the house.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps to fulfill the wishes of children with critical illnesses between the ages of two and a half and eighteen years. Meanwhile, the venue, operated by Live Nation and owned by the City of Concord, has a capacity of 12,500, so it definitely meets the definition of a “big stage.”
Against the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic where access to venues was difficult, the team at Concord Pavilion made the iconic venue available without hesitation. Further, when Make-A-Wish volunteer coordinator Ian Williamson reached out to a selection of suppliers for advice, they all immediately offered their services and join in. The resulting performance saw Valeria, who suffers from a congenital heart disease, take to the stage with a full professional production and deliver her performance.
Some More Sound, headed by owner Yuri Sumnicht and based in Walnut Creek, CA, also provided CODA stage monitors and front fills for the performance, in addition to the house system. The day was summed up by Mike Wunder of Wunder Lighting and Controls, who notes, “It was very healthy for everybody there. Because nobody has been able to do a show, we probably didn’t realise how much we missed doing it. So I think it was not only ‘make a wish’ for Valeria but it kind of granted a little wish for everyone that was working the show.”
