MARCH FORTH INTERNS
CommonChord Project is a partner with March Forth - an organization that honors our dear friend Julietta Laurita-Smith who died of brain cancer March 4, 2019. As a singer-songwriter committed to social justice - Julietta believed deeply in our mission and wanted to see us launch.
Last summer, Julietta’s close friends and brother Niko, joined together to become our first group of interns helping to make CommonChord a success. They carried grief collectively and together, kept Julietta’s memory alive and close in song.
Julietta Laurita-Smith
December 12, 1999 - March 4, 2019
Prior to October 21, 2017, Julietta was enjoying the happiest time in her life - on track to graduate high school a semester early, enjoying a budding career as a singer/songwriter and singing and playing bass in a band, working as a barista, accepted to college for fall of 2018, and generally loving life and being a healthy, positive, blossoming, joyful 17 year old. A massive series of seizures landed her in the ER, and a suspicious MRI prompted transport to Children’s Hospital in Denver. Many more tests, and a subsequent biopsy revealed a diagnosis of a cancerous glioma brain tumor, mostly in her right frontal lobe. Julietta fought her battle with incredible fortitude, facing each day with optimism and a gracious spirit. Even in her darkest hours, Julietta’s light shone brightly, creating profound impact with her words of kindness and wisdom, bestowed so openly upon all those she met. Tragically, Julietta lost her battle against brain cancer on March 4, 2019. Her spirit lives on; in her words, her music, and her endless compassion for others.
March Forth’s ongoing mission is to keep Julietta’s memory alive through projects that cultivate independent thinking, mental/emotional wellness, compassion and creative expression of young adults and teens through the arts.
