VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Sarah Montecuollo, a Valley City State University sophomore from Valley City, appears in a new video by Mandisa, a Grammy award-winning Christian/gospel artist.
Montecuollo can be seen signing in the Mandisa video for “Bleed the Same (youtu.be/HVKuA1s5I3o),” which was released Jan. 12. (Although Montecuollo appears throughout the video; one section where she appears prominently begins at the 2:05 mark.)
Mandisa flew Montecuollo to Nashville in mid-November 2017 to record her parts for the video, after Sarah had shared a video of herself winning the VCAB Homecoming Talent Show this past fall with a signing performance of “Bleed the Same.”
Although Montecuollo met with the managers of Mandisa and her collaborator, TobyMac, at the Nashville studio, she has yet to meet the singer herself. That will happen Feb. 25 in Minneapolis, when Montecuollo will participate in a meet-and-greet session with Mandisa when she performs at the Target Center as part of the TobyMac Hits Deep Tour concert.
Montecuollo is studying music education at VCSU; she’s learned to sign by taking classes in American sign language and interpreting via distance technology on the VCSU campus through Lake Region State College in Devils Lake. Her Homecoming Talent Show performance can be viewed at youtu.be/SMPh4xrVMDQ.
The following is a statement by Sarah Montecuollo; “When I signed up to do the talent show, my goal was to make a difference. I was going to have the chance to say something in front my peers, and the message I wanted to present was something positive. I was tired of seeing the way people across America were treating each other. I thought the talent show would be the perfect opportunity to show people it doesn’t matter who you are. We are all created equal in the image of God, and VCSU is a difference-making school. I wanted to challenge my fellow peers to make a difference. It didn’t matter to me if I won the talent show or not. God had given me the opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives and a platform to show people our differences doesn’t define us. I wanted to get that message across. That was my focus, making a difference. After my performance at the talent show, I could tell God was using me to make a difference in so many people. When I was asked to be in the video, I was in complete and utter shock. Being from a small town, I didn’t think anything like this would ever happen to someone like me. I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to make a difference in even more people’s lives. God gave me the opportunity to make a difference and do something amazing. He made one of my dreams come true through this music video. Performing sign language for Christian music artists is a dream of mine and getting to be in a music video was a dream come true. Never underestimate the power of the Christian God. He can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants. That’s what he did with me. All I wanted to do is make a difference and He is giving me that opportunity. That’s my focus, making a difference. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. It only matters what God thinks. If I never had the opportunity to be in this music video, and only one person in the world was impacted by my talent show performance, that would be enough.”