Electric Youth to Perform Summer Concert opening the 3rd Annual Franklin Cultural Festival

Following a two-and-a-half week summer concert tour of England, France, Italy and Switzerland, Electric Youth (EY) will perform a free outdoor concert on Wednesday, July 26, at 6 p.m. on Franklin Town Common. The concert will open the third annual Franklin Cultural Festival, hosted by the Franklin Cultural District Committee. Backed by an eight-piece band of world-class musicians, Electric Youth delivers a fun, high-energy show of family entertainment with an extensive range of pop, classic rock, swing, contemporary Broadway and country music for audiences all ages. 

The EY singer-dancers are backed by Boston musicians who’ve performed, recorded and toured with music legends including Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Alicia Keys, B.B. King, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Van Morrison and many others. Raye Lynn Mercer and Hallie Wetzell are Electric Youth’s Director and Vocal Director, respectively. Choreographers include Mercer, Casey Andrade, Cheryl Madeux, Nick Paone and Kellie Stamp.

Selected annually by audition, the group is chosen for superior musicianship, stage presence, and “triple threat” accomplishments in voice, dance, and acting. This season’s ensemble of performers, ages 15-18, studies multiple dance disciplines, voice and acting at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts. Electric Youth 2017 includes Julia Buccella, Brooke Collins, Aaron Frongillo, Sydney Leach, Caitlin Woodcock and Melissa Wyner of Franklin; Caroline Merten of Hopedale; Sam Evans and Colie Vancura of Medfield; Katie Gray of Milford; Naomi Fitzgerald, Mairead Nee and Griffin Wilkins of Walpole; and Susauna Wickstrom of Wrentham.

Electric Youth to Perform Summer Concert On Franklin Common

Electric Youth’s 2017 European tour featured several concerts along the coast of Normandy, including shows in Barfleur, Cherbourg and the historic D-Day site of Sainte-Mère-Église. The itinerary also marked the group’s debut in Switzerland with a concert in Zermatt. Venues in England included Wimbourne’s Tivoli Theatre, along with performances in Arundel, Chichester and Hastings. EY also returned to Lake Como, following performances there last summer, to deliver two lakeside shows at the Hotel Britannia.

Electric Youth has released six professional albums and toured Europe 13 times, with performances at England’s Arundel Festival, Disneyland Paris, professional theaters in Bristol, London and Windsor, and such renowned venues as Sanremo’s Ariston Theatre and Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Musikverein and Schonbrunn Palace. EY has also headlined Fourth of July shows for U.S. troops and their families stationed in Italy at Camp Ederle, Camp Darby and Aviano Air Force Base. The ensemble has performed on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, on Fox-TV and WBZ Radio, and at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, Mechanics Hall, the Smithsonian Museum Theater, the United Nations and the American Embassy in Rome. EY’s music, including the 2014 album Power Chord, is available at amazon.com and iTunes. 

The EY summer concert on the common will also feature a performance by Future Shock, a select children’s ensemble of students ages 6-13. For more information about Electric Youth, visit www.electricyouth.com. To learn more about the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, call (508) 528-8668 or visit www.FSPAonline.com.