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People On The Move: Cara Smith
10/24/2008 - By by Chad A. Safran
AN “IDOL” IN OUR MIDST
For someone who has sung at some of the most famous venues in the world, like Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden, Cara Smith amazingly still suffers from stage fright. So how does this Rumson resident manage to sing before a crowd?
“I lie to myself,” says Smith, 17 and a junior at Red Bank Catholic. “I say, ‘Just sing. You can do this.’” There was a time when Cara could not sing anywhere; she was even on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That was one reason her mother enrolled then 12- year-old Cara in the Young People’s Chorus in New York City.
“I knew a chorus would be a great way to keep her singing without stressing her out as far as being in the spotlight,” says Caroline, who recognized her daughter’s vocal talent when she performed in third grade in a talent show. Cara auditioned for director Francisco Nunez and made the group. A year and a half later she was doing a solo for its winter concert.
The Young People’s Chorus has enabled Cara to sing before the Pope, perform in England, and even travel to Austria this past summer for the Choir Olympics in Graz; however, her most impactful performance came in September, when the group honored the victims of 9/11 at Ground Zero, and followed with an event at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Cara had a small solo.
“Nothing will be as affecting as singing at Ground Zero,” she says. “I looked into the grieving faces…people who lost their loved ones on 9/11, and I made their day a little brighter. Nothing will ever top that. I will forever cherish that day.”
Not every day involves large-scale performances. Three days a week Cara has a schedule that most adults would find difficult. Those days begin with school, and then perhaps a stop at a Red Bank coffee shop before jumping on the ferry to New York for a 2-hour chorus practice. By the time she returns home it is about 9 pm, leaving little time for saying hello to her father David, 14-year-old brother Eric (her 19-year-old sister Laura is a sophomore at Villanova), or cuddling with the two family cats. She grabs some dinner and then does some homework before “crashing.” Her day used to begin even earlier, since before August of this year the family lived in Brielle.
On the other days, Cara takes time to be a normal teenager. She has her driver’s license (and many of her friends don’t), so Cara turns from singer into taxi driver in her yellow Honda CRV. She watches a few shows on the History Channel or the Discovery Channel, or listens to some folk or acoustic guitar music…perhaps a bit of James Taylor.
“I am still a regular kid,” she says. “I make time for friends. I make time to rest.” Cara will need plenty of energy if she’s going to continue winning singing competitions. She has already grabbed trophies for her performances at Freehold Idol and Manasquan Inlet Idol; she even tried out for “American Idol” during the New Jersey auditions.
For her effort to qualify for the country’s most popular television show, Cara spent 10 hours waiting to audition, which consisted of a 10-second snippet of “I am Like a Bird” before an anonymous judge. Though she didn’t make it, she is glad she had the experience. “If I didn’t go, I would have been wondering what if,” she says.
Although you won’t see Cara on national television, she will be performing locally for an acappella group, The Rock ‘N Roll Chorus, directed by Joe Cantaffa. “Cara's vocal ability and her musical potential will allow her to be both a dynamic lead singer for us, as well as a strong supporting vocal artist,” says Cantaffa, who is also the group’s producer and arranger. “Singing and performing seems to be a part of her soul.”
That’s part of the attitude Cara takes with her when performing in front of a crowd, no matter what the size. “I know music is more than just noise. I want to tell a story, not just communicate. I want to be an artist who can make an impact.”
STATS
FAVORITE RESTAURANT
Blue Fin in New York City
FAVORITE MUSIC/MUSICIANS
folk, acoustic guitar/John Mayer, Jason Mraz
FAVORITE MOVIE
Phantom of the Opera
PET PEEVE
unambitious members of the opposite sex
THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH
Martin Luther King, Jr., the Pope, a fireman from the NYFD who helped on 9/11
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