Guilherem ‘Gilly’ Assuncao, employee of Russo’s in Watertown MA, a Boston area supermarket, amazed Christmas shoppers with opera style holiday songs.
All Guilherme “Gilly” Assuncao wanted to do was help with the sound check.
Gilly works for Russo’s, a Boston area produce and flower shop, but that sound check turned out to be the moment he stepped into the spotlight this holiday season. Russo’s usually hires professional musicians to bring the season’s greetings to its shoppers, but now Gilly’s performances have them stopping in their tracks to listen.
“During set up late Friday night for the next day’s in-store performance, Gilly asked if he could help with the sound check,” Russo’s chief marketing officer Karen Russo told McClatchy. “He started singing, and all of the employees were blown away. Many were crying.”
By the weekend, he had his own slot singing in the store.
As of Tuesday morning, a Facebook video of Assuncao singing “O Holy Night” during his Saturday shift had been viewed more than 44,000 times, and another on Sunday had 21,000 more views. He started washing dishes for the store’s hot bar six months ago. Now he sings, when he’s not making deliveries.
The holidays are notorious for frenzied shoppers bumping into each other and even fighting over last-minute gifts, but the videos on Russo’s Facebook page show shoppers slowing down and forgetting their lists for just a moment while his operatic tones fill the store.
“I honestly do not know how to explain the excitement that I am feeling right now,” Gilly told McClatchy. “It’s so many feelings at once, but I am definitely really happy this Christmas. I never thought this would happen to me, ever!”
Tony Russo, the owner of the 100-year-old family business in Watertown, Mass., told the Boston Globe that he had no clue how talented Assuncao was until he heard him sing an Andrea Bocelli song late Friday night during the sound check.
“This singer has incredible charisma and a beautiful voice,” Facebook user Olga Lisovskaya said in the comments on one of the store’s Facebook videos. “It was a pleasure to hear him sing today!”
Gilly immigrated to the U. S. from Brazil, where he was an engineering student and sometimes a professional singer, in 2015, but found it hard to continue to pay for his studies as an international student living in Massachusetts. Now, at least, he’s got a singing gig through the holidays.
“It has always been my dream to make a living as a musician,” he told McClatchy. “But I always kept my feet on the ground because I know how hard the path is. I honestly do not know what to expect from all this, but I am really grateful for all the support that people have been giving me.”
