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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Union Station welcomed back Vanessa Ford, the “Songstress of Springfield,” who is well-known for singing at various local area events, to record a new version of “O Holy Night” for the holiday season. She was joined by Springfield Conservatory of the Arts student Kayla Staley, who performed “The First Noel.”

The video will run on social media through Dec. 25. Click here to view it.

“This certainly is a special holiday season for us all,” said Nicole Sweeney, property manager for Springfield Union Station. “And I can’t think of a better way to start it than with the beautiful voices of Vanessa and Kayla.”

Ford began singing in the church choir at age 7, and she loves every genre of music. She is an aficionado of classical music, jazz, pop, traditional hymns, and contemporary gospel music. She has performed the national anthem for many local college sporting events, at Springfield Police Academy graduations, and for a multitude of high-profile local and national events.

Staley has been singing since she was 12. She enjoys singing at nursing homes, along with other public performances, and hopes to travel to different cities to sing and put smiles on people’s faces.

The video was planned, recorded, and produced by GCAi Digital PR Analyst Mary Cate Mannion, who is also a producer at New England Corporate Video.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Union Station announced that a recent performance of the national anthem by Vanessa Ford, the “Songstress of Springfield,” was a hit on YouTube and social media.

“We suspected that a video by Ms. Ford, who is well known for singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at various area events, would be very popular,” said Nicole Sweeney, property manager for Springfield Union Station. “But this video exploded on YouTube and social media over the July 4th weekend.”

The video was planned, recorded, and produced by GCAi’s Darcy Young at Springfield Union Station. It was shown on social media and YouTube as well as featured on springfieldunionstation.com.

According to performance data provided by GCAi to Springfield Union Station, the video received 34,000 engagement actions (like, shares, and comments), and the two-minute performance accumulated more than 25 hours of viewing on YouTube alone. Additional data demonstrated that the video’s popularity extended well beyond the Springfield area, with Boston, Hartford, and New York City joining Springfield in the top five audience metro areas.

“In the end, the data provided two things,” Sweeney said. “Patriotism is alive and well in the Northeast Corridor, and Vanessa Ford is a true local treasure.”

Ford began singing in the church choir at age 7, and she loves every genre of music. She is an aficionado of classical music, jazz, pop, traditional hymns, and contemporary gospel music, and has performed the national anthem for many local college sporting events, Springfield Police Academy graduations, and a multitude of high-profile local and national events.”