Andréa Robles, a 13-year-old East Hall Middle School student, never expected to have a chance to travel across the world to sing at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
But she has a chance to do just that.
She was first nominated by her chorus teacher, Emily Allison, to sing alongside around 500 musicians from various countries in the 2019 Middle School Honors Performance Series at the Royal Festival Hall. The event takes place from July 17-21.
“To me, this means a lot,” Andréa said. “So many other kids could have gotten this, and I’m the only one in the state of Georgia that got it. This is definitely one of the things in my life that I will never ever take for granted.”
For five days Andréa will rehearse under master conductors leading up to a final performance with the other young musicians at the Royal Festival Hall.

Every year the Honors Performance Series selects young musicians to receive the chance of performing at renown music halls like Carnegie Hall in New York City, Sydney Opera House and Royal Festival Hall.
After receiving the initial nomination, Andréa had to send back a professional recording of herself singing sheet music provided by the Honors Performance Series. When she found out that she became accepted, her parents, Brenda and Joseph Robles, said they would go to any lengths to help their daughter seize the opportunity.
“For use, we’re humbled and so thankful that this is happening for her,” Joseph Robles said. “As big as this is, this is only the beginning. She’s only 13 and she has a bright future.”
Andréa likes to say that she was born into music.
She said her mother has a talent for singing and her father serves as a bilingual worship leader at her church, IDV International Gainesville.
Andréa started to take singing seriously in the fifth grade, later joining her school’s chorus group. She also sings regularly in her church’s choir.

Andréa said her world lacks color without music.
“When I sing, it’s like the door to my own world opens,” she said. “I can forget about everything else that is happening and just focus on the songs and the notes. I think of it as my personal utopia.”
Andréa, who also is fluent in Spanish, often surprises people when she mentions her favorite genre. She prefers K-pop, a musical genre from South Korea.
“I love K-pop,” she said. “Not only does it have such an amazing rhythm and beat to dance to, it’s all meaningful.”
She has picked up the language over the past couple of years and considers herself a beginner Korean speaker.
One of her biggest musical inspirations happens to be BTS, a seven-member boy band from South Korea. The K-pop group won the top social artist at The Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas for 2017 and 2018, and continues to gain international recognition.
Andréa said the boy band’s encouraging songs make them stand out among other musicians.

Singing with a soulful and booming voice, Andréa said one of her biggest fears is that people will tell her she’s “too young” to start pursuing her dreams.
“I think the only thing you could really say back to that is, ‘It’s always good to start early,’” she said.
Performing at the Royal Festival Hall in London will prove a huge step in Andréa’s musical journey. She said what excites her the most about the opportunity includes the rehearsals an workshops led by professional conductors.
Andréa’s family has set up a GoFundMe account for others to help with the cost of the program and travel expenses. Both Brenda and Joseph Robles will go with their daughter to the five-day event.
Joseph Robles said while his family is doing their part to help with the costs, they want to reach out to the Hall County community for assistance. He hopes to raise $5,000 before the trip in July.
“We’re just thankful for people’s attention and time,” Joseph Robles said. “Anything they can do to help us meet this goal is greatly appreciated. We take a lot of pride in where we’re from and who we’re representing. We want to do our best to represent this community in a good way.”

People can help Andréa sing in the Honor Series Performance by making donations to www.gofundme.com/andrea-goes-to-london.

Original Article from the Gainesville Times

LULA –An interesting dichotomy seems to exist in Lula: the city of 2886-residents is a small rural community, yet large enough to experience big town concerns. The duplexity of issues on the agenda for Monday’s city council meeting offered evidence the twofold identity is genuine.

The meeting opened by recognizing recipients of the “Yard of the Month” award, an agenda item typical in small town America; moments later the matter of the city needing cyberterrorism insurance was discussed.

Then Mayor Jim Grier reminded the audience that the “Lula Area Ladies’ Friendship Gathering Luncheon” was less than two weeks away and all the ladies should tell their lady friends to be there, after which he called for a vote creating a “Development Authority”, something that is a big town necessity.

Later the mayor said, “One of the realities is that we have never incarcerated anyone” just before the vote was taken to renew the contract with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office regarding use of the county jail. “This should provide the framework for that should it ever happen,” Grier said.

Grier told those involved in the Railroad Days parade happening in May “to polish-up your antique vehicles and wash the mud off your tractor tires” moments after the council voted to delay selection of a revamped city logo and marketing strategy.

Small, big-town or big, small-town? Either way Lula and its leaders are possibly going through that awkward stage where coping with a new identity demands flexibility and perseverance.

ITEMS DISCUSSED AT MONDAY’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING
City council heard from City Manager Dennis Bergin that four bids were received by the city for liability insurance coverage. The bids ranged from $29,516 to $54,262 per year for roughly $17-million of protection.
City Attorney Jim Homans urged the city to take the terrorism and cyberterrorism options that are available. Homans said recently several cities have been victims of ransomware attacks. “That’s what local governments are really faced with now. Several local governments, they were down, and they were without use of their computer…no email, no payments coming in.”

City Manager Dennis Bergin said of including cyberterrorism coverage, “That’s certainly one that’s not optional; it needs to be a part of our everyday life as far as liability goes. Unfortunately, that’s a sign of the times.”
Council agreed to delay selection of an insurance provider until members could study details in the four offers received.

Then Bergin updated the council on progress being made in the renovation of the Train Depot: “We really have seen a lot of activity; you’re starting to see brick go up, the rough-in electrical…and plumbing is done…but it won’t be done in time for Railroad Days.”

Additionally, the council voted to submit the updated Department of Community Affairs Plan to Atlanta; to begin the steps of creating a Development Authority Board, including the advertising and application process for filling board positions; to renew the contract with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office for housing inmates; to delay until additional input could be gathered the selection of a new city logo and marketing strategy; and to increase the number of meetings at which city council members are eligible for compensation.

Mayor Pro-Tem Marvin Moore said the move to begin the process of increasing the number of pay-eligible meetings did not include an increase in the amount paid. He explained that the ordinance currently in place caps the number of meetings that are pay-eligible based on the number of meetings held many years ago.
“We’re not voting ourselves a raise,” Moore said. “Now, sometimes we have committee meetings and we’re not able to get compensated.”

Written by Marc Edgars