Submitted photo / Shervin Lainez Youngstown native Lawrence Brownlee is among the alumni of The Youngstown Connection who will perform at its Grand Finale Concert on July 26.

Many of the students who were members of The Youngstown Connection in high school went on to professional careers as performers.

Others became doctors, attorneys, hospital administrators and CEOs.

“My paycheck is their success,” said Carol Baird, founder of the group. “They credit the Connection, because they had to learn to be public speakers. They had to learn manners. They had to learn how to present themselves. In addition to performance, all those things counted too, and it paid off. When they would interview for a job or something, they stood head and shoulders above their competitors. That’s what they tell me. So there’s lots of success outside of the arts. Many successes, unbelievable successes.”

Some of those success stories will be featured July 26 at Austintown Fitch High School for a Grand Finale Concert with more than 40 alumni expected to perform.

The event will serve as a farewell to the ensemble Baird started in the late 1980s.

“COVID killed us,” she said. “I tried to get it going after that, and I had a lot of auditionees, but they just didn’t have the commitment or dedication to the group that the groups in the past had. We do very intricate choreography and everything is in sync. And I thought, if I can’t have it right, I don’t want it at all. So we decided to have a farewell. I’m getting quite elderly. Although I could still do it, I think it’s time. I’d rather not have any than have it not be what it was.”

Those high standards were a part of the group from its inception. Baird was supervisor of creative and performing arts for the five Youngstown high schools when she got the idea for a citywide high school performing group as a way to break down the animosity that existed among the students from the different schools.

Hers was a volunteer position, and the district provided no funding, she said, so it was a constant struggle to keep the organization going financially. The troupe traveled to perform at the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany; the World’s Fair in Spain; a World War II commemoration in London, Paris and Normandy Beach; at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of Sen. John Glenn; and other prestigious events nationally and internationally.

Its last major trip was in 2016 to perform at the Vatican.

“We did every fundraiser known to man to raise the money to go on those trips,” Baird said. “But it was worth it, because it opened the eyes of those inner-city kids. It changed their lives completely. So it’s worth it, every bit of it.”

As the group’s notoriety grew and classmates heard about the travel opportunities its members had, demand to be a part of the 12-person ensemble also grew. Baird said she’d regularly get more than 30 students auditioning for a single opening.

The students became just as demanding of each other as Baird was of them.

“Every group had one or two that was really, really into it, and if anybody in the group wasn’t up to snuff, they would take them home with them for supper, and they’d spend all evening rehearsing,” Baird said. “Some of those kids did that every single night of the week and on weekends to make sure everyone in the group was as good as the next person. They didn’t want any weak links. I didn’t force that. That was something they did on their own.”

Among those who will be returning for the July 26 performance is Lawrence Brownlee, a tenor who is a two-time Grammy nominee and has performed with prestigious opera companies around the world.

Brownlee, who came home to sing with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra in 2020, talked about the importance of the Youngstown Connection on his career and his beliefs in a 2024 interview with the newspaper.

“The central theme of Youngstown Connection was brotherhood, was togetherness, was unity, was love, so my activism kind of grew out of that,” Brownlee said. “The first time I ever went to Europe was in 1989, when the Berlin Wall was coming down. And we were talking about spreading love, spreading brotherhood. I want to make a difference because I want to show love, because I can use my voice for good. My activism started about being vocal, being out front, unashamed of the message I want to put out there.

“Carol Baird was a very big part of that, and I’m thankful she took me into her group and I had the opportunity. … My activism is bred into me, I can’t get away from it. It’s just a part of who I am, and I’m thankful Dr. Baird really drove us and pushed us. That was her message that extended to me and a big part of why I do what I do.”

Baird remembered when Brownlee first asked her for an audition; she told him he couldn’t because his grades weren’t good enough.

“It wasn’t long after that, he comes flying down the hall again with his report card — straight As,” Baird said. “He was always very good. He was one who’d be horsing around during rehearsal, but he knew every note, every step. He never messed up. No matter what happened, he always excelled.”

Others scheduled to perform include actor-singer Joshua Triplett, who has appeared in films and television and more than 100 commercials; Benjamin Burney, a tenor who has performed with Opera Western Reserve, Opera Festival of Chicago, Indianapolis Opera and others; dancer-choreographer Timothy Gordon, who has worked with such artists as Alicia Keys; and Brayshawna Thomas, who works for Disney in Florida.

The format of the July 26 concert is still being shaped. Some alumni will perform in group numbers. Some of the professional artists coming home for the event will be featured soloists. Baird also plans to include testimonials from some of those business professionals as well.

“It’ll be fun to see the students perform and see if they’ve been able to maintain their performance quality,” Baird said. “I’m just looking forward to seeing and hearing all of them again.”