Hingham 7th Grader Performs at Benefit Concert

student, Claire Maisto has shared her musical talents with her friends and family for two years, and last Sunday she shared her talents with the public at a benefit concert.

Claire took part in a benefit concert titled ‘Andrew Garland and Friends, Raising Their Voices in Song’  to benefit natural disaster victims in Japan and Haiti.  The  May 29 concert took place  at the First Parish Church Unitarian Universalist at 223 Main Street in Kingston.

“Every time Claire has performed , the crowd has been amazed,” said her mother Tricia Welsh, noting Claire comes from a musically-talented family that has been involved with music from an early age.  “She is pretty charismatic and writes about subjects that seem mature for her years.” 

Welsh said her daughter started writing songs two years ago – when Claire was in fifth grade – after her piano teacher, Joe Micarelli of Hingham, encouraged her to sing, “and, from there, she just started writing her own music and lyrics.”

“Her fifth grade teacher at , Stephen Lewis, was so impressed he asked Brian Cincotta, the band director at to include Claire in the high school’s annual Singer/Songwriter event; that was two years ago,” said Welsh.  “She was the first (and so far the only) non-high school student to participate."

Last weekend's  Memorial Day concert was the  first big concert she’s been asked to perform in, said Welsh.

“Most of my songs are for my friends because they kind of vent to me about their problems and I try to write songs to make them feel better,” said Maisto, age 13, a seventh grade student at   “The way I write songs is basic -- I choose a couple of cords to do the song in and then I just kind of go from there.  There’s a little bit of melody in it but I’m not really that advanced yet,” she said.

While Claire is modest about her voice and songwriting skills, baritone player Andrew Garland who performed with Maistro had nothing but praise for the young singer, songwriter and musician.

Garland likes to say he “discovered” Claire at the Hingham solo and ensemble competition where he was a serving as a judge.  For the competition, Hingham middle and high school music students perform a piece and judges give them a score. 

“Claire came in to the audition room and was extremely well put-together for a middle school student,” said Garland.  “She announced to me that she would accompany herself at the piano and play a song that she wrote, and then she sang.  I was amazed, almost in shock, that this girl of 13 had written and performed a song as well as any I had ever heard.”

Garland then invited Claire to participate in last Sunday’s concert.

“I invited her to participate in this concert and we are so fortunate that she accepted.  Now our audience can experience the beauty of Claire's music,” he said.

The concert included a wide range of music including classical, Celtic, choral, folk, pop, and rock, and will feature local artists such as Angelica Dombrowski, Diana Cohen and Lorna Jane Norris of Plymouth; Ashley Rossi of Marshfield, Michelle McGrath of Kingston; Randy McGee of Braintree; Shaun England of Wareham, Connected the band, and many others.  

Garland said the concert is a way of allowing people to “take a moment to reflect on the treasures of our lives, and how we can share them with those in need.” 

Half of the proceeds were split between charities in Japan and Haiti, and half  benefited the First Parish Church for sponsoring the event.

Funds raised at Sunday’s performance will be partially donated through Partners in Health (PIH), http://www.pih.org, a medical clinic founded by a Boston doctor on the island of Haiti.   Dr. Paul Farmer is based at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and founded PIH and has been providing health services in Haiti for more than 20 years.