'Island of Hope': Musician Carol Horrigan reflects on music, cancer, community

By Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

Carol Horrigan has loved music ever since, as a 5-year-old, she discovered the piano.

“I saw somebody playing the piano, and I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ I begged my mother to let me take piano lessons,” Horrigan recalled. “She let me start in first grade. I never stopped.”

Horrigan wasn’t the first family member to learn the piano.

“My brother and sister had been taking piano lessons, and they didn’t like it as much as I did.” She recalled that her mother asked her, “‘Are you sure? You can wait,” but her answer was, “No! I want to take them! Now!’

Horrigan, who retired in 2020 after teaching music at Huth Road Elementary School for 34 years, still practices the piano daily.

As a piano performance student at SUNY Fredonia, Horrigan decided to also major in music education.

“My goal in college was to be a concert pianist. I was like … maybe, I should have a backup plan. So, my backup plan was to be a music teacher,” Horrigan explained. “When I student taught, I was like … this is not my backup plan anymore. This is my plan.”

In 2010, Horrigan discovered her life plan had changed again when she was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine screening.

Carol Horrigan (Submitted photo)

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Horrigan, who is the 2025 Relay For Life Honorary Survivor, said she didn’t believe the diagnosis when she was informed.

“That day when I was sitting in that room, just waiting for the doctor to say, ‘Yeah, you can go,’ and they never came in and told me that,” she said. “They were like, ‘Um, we think you need more tests.’ And then, she said, ‘Good luck.’ I was thinking, ‘I don’t need good luck.’ So, I went back for more tests. They were like, ‘Yeah, you have breast cancer.’ I said, ‘Can you look at the name again?’ They said they think it’s correct.”

Horrigan said, because the cancer was caught early, she had some cancer at stage zero and some cancer at stage one. She was originally told she needed only a lumpectomy, but later, she was told “You’re on the border. You do need chemo.”

Still in a state of disbelief, Horrigan said, “OK, I’ll get it next time.’ My husband looked at me and he said, ‘You are not getting it next time, you’re getting it this time.’ So, anyway, I had chemo and then I had to have radiation.”

Horrigan said she had a good support system of family and friends.

“One day, my boys (Aaron and Adam) and my husband all came back bald,” Horrigan said. “They all shaved their heads. They all sat at the counter until I noticed. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ ”

Horrigan said the worst part of cancer treatments was losing her hair. And she said she wanted to help others going through the same experience. So, she held two “Concerts for Hope.” Her intent, with the first concert, which was held in 2011, was to raise money for Mary’s Room at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, which offered wigs to women who were going through breast cancer treatments. When she held the second concert, in 2015, the funds raised went to the Make a Wish Foundation and Relay For Life. Horrigan decided to hold a second concert after she was told her cancer was in remission.

Community involvement was very important for the “Concerts for Hope,” Horrigan said, which is why she formed the Pink Chorus, made up of members of the community.

“I wanted to get the community involved somehow, instead of just Huth Road,” Horrigan said. “I was sure there were people out there who wanted to sing, and I could find some really inspirational songs, because there are so many wonderful songs out. If the internet had been like it is now, I think it would have been even bigger. But it was OK because we had plenty. It was just by word of mouth.”

When Horrigan was going through her cancer, she decided not to tell her students.

“I felt like it would be a burden for them,” Horrigan said. “The day I took off my wig, I told them that my hairdresser went bonkers.”

When asked if she thought the students believed her, she said, “I think they did because nobody said anything to me.”

As a teacher, Horrigan said her goal was always to help her students learn to appreciate music. She said the thing that made her happiest was “Having fun with music.

“I wanted kids to leave Huth Road loving music. They didn’t have to be musicians. I did a lot of music appreciation, so they would recognize what a jazz musician was, what a classical musician was, and, when they graduate, just to enjoy whatever kind of music that they love. I love teaching piano lessons, too.”

Horrigan said she has many happy memories of her time as the music teacher at Huth Road Elementary School.

“We did an American concert,” she said. “I loved writing songs, too. The Huth Road memories. I did a multiplication song for the kids. I did an American song for that concert. It was a district concert. There are still kids that contact me. I had emails yesterday for my birthday from former students. It was so nice. Concerts were a lot of work, but I loved doing the concerts.

“I still have fond feelings for doing some units, like I used to love doing the jazz unit. We made the bottle buddies. I used to love the Underground Railroad unit. So, there are still lessons in my head, and I loved doing those lessons. We did a lot of music appreciation.”

After retirement, Horrigan continues to teach. She offers private piano lessons, and she also teaches the youngest students now, both at Island Kids and at the Grand Island Cooperative Nursery School. She also plays the piano at Huth Road Elementary School and at the Veronica Connor Middle School. She is scheduled to accompany an oboe student at the middle school.

“I wasn’t sure I was a preschool teacher,” Horrigan said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll try it.’ The minute I stepped foot in there, I was like, ‘Yep.’ You know, you look at their little faces. It’s like in elementary school. You look at their faces, and they capture your heart.

“They love it. I think they love when I come. They give me hugs, so I’m assuming they love when I come. And we sing fun things. And we dance and that kind of stuff.”

When Horrigan isn’t teaching, she enjoys Pilates, yoga, long walks, gardening, and spending time with her grandchildren, who live both in Western New York and Chicago.

As for the cancer, Horrigan said, there is always that fear with each routine screening.

The fear was increased because, now, after her mammogram, she has to wait for the result.

The result was “on the portal before the end of the night,” Horrigan said. It was negative.

Horrigan said, if asked what she would tell someone newly diagnosed with cancer, “There’s light at the end of the tunnel. Just stay steady and stay strong. When you come out, you still have happiness and all the things you had before. It was just a little glip in your journey.”

On Grand Island, the 2025 Relay For Life is scheduled for May 17 at Town Commons with the football theme “Tackle Cancer.” Events to be held on that day include food and vendors from 1-6 p.m., entertainment and opportunities for people to design luminaria from 1-6 p.m., and the luminaria ceremony at 9 p.m. There will be a basket raffle, games, food, an inflatable slide, vendors, bingo, and a survivors’ celebration. Live music will be provided by the Eric Spahr Band and Rusty Nickel. For more information, check out www.RelayForLife.org/GrandIslandNY.