Longboat Island Chapel hosts Veterans Day concert

Veterans Day came to a close on Longboat Key with a concert at Longboat Island Chapel.

Vocal duo Siren Song performed a slate of operatic and patriotic songs to an audience of about 70. Church members attended with their families, but there were several veterans in the audience as well. Chapel member Bill Evanko came dressed in his Navy whites that he wore from 1971 to 1977.

Robyn Rocklein and Johanna Davis, backed on the piano by Donna Smith, wowed the crowd with a bevy of opera songs, including "Le Nozze di Figaro," which was featured in "Shawshank Redemption." Rocklein noted how opera has often been used as a symbol of freedom in movies, and how one character in "Shawshank Redemption" said he had no idea what they were singing about in Italian, but he felt free. 

Of course, the evening wouldn’t have been complete without a tribute to the armed forces, so the iconic medley of U.S. military songs paired with Siren Song’s rendition of “America the Beautiful.”