Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul. (Plato)

Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul. (Plato)

When our music makes people laugh and cry, when people stand up and start to dance in response to our music, when we can see that our music has touched someone's soul, we have shared a little of what we feel when we make our music. This giving and sharing is immensely gratifying. Each laugh, each tear, every dance step is a great gift to us. Sharing an hour of music with seniors reminds us of how very lucky we are to have the privilege of immersing ourselves in music together every week.

Ain't We Sweet!

Hello, Everybody!

Jokes

I have some jokes that I use when we go out singing with the seniors. It feels good to make them laugh, and it sets the tone for informal fun. I think it helps the choristers to relax too. Sometimes we get a bit nervous performing J

One of my regular jokes is a comment on the sing-along sheets that we hand out. Each song is a page. The songs are numbered, but we don’t use all the songs. So, page one is #4. When announcing the song, I’ll say: “Go to number four. It’s the first page. That’s new math.”

It's about me
Number 4 has its own joke too. The song is, “Ain’t She Sweet.” I’ll say: “Now we’re going to sing one of our favourite songs. It’s about me!” So, we have groans and giggles in the choir and shock and laughter in the audience. Later, we might sing “Hey, Good Lookin’!” I’ll say, “Hey, another song about me!”

Sometimes, I’ll switch it up a bit and say it’s a song about our accompanist. Sometimes, it’s Debbie-“Five-foot two, eyes of blue”.

Thanks
Yesterday, we had our AGM. We met with pizza and treats, and got the business of the choir done. The evening is an opportunity to acknowledge everyone who helps out with the various tasks that have to be done to keep things going. I am the conductor, so nice things are said about me and I get a pretty card and a generous honorarium. I like that part of the meeting.

My song
This year I got the best gift ever. My choir sang for me. It was better than all the Happy Birthdays I’ve had sung to me. It was totally impromptu. Robin put up her hand and said something like “I think we should sing Renate her song.” They sang “Ain’t She Sweet”.

Now, I ask you very confidentially, ain’t they sweet?

Thank you, my choir! I love you!

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Dances with seniors

Hello Everyone!

The YRCC had fun last night at Sunrise Senior Living in Aurora. We were upstairs on the third floor with the folks that can’t usually make it to a concert downstairs.  

The music moved her

Some of them were very lively, though. Several of us danced with one of the seniors! She had a great time. I like it when our music moves our audience so much and they feel comfortable enough that they get up and dance. It happens. I can totally relate. I love moving to music and can’t always control myself.

Sit down

Others were not so happy about her getting up and moving. They asked her to sit down. I understand their point of view too. It’s a bit distracting having someone dancing. But, I wanted to say to them, “Get up and join her. Dance while you still can. And if you can’t, at least be happy for someone who still can.” You’d think that seniors would get that. I hoped that they could see that we were fine with it so they could relax too.

We like our seniors’ performances to be casual and fun. We interact with the audience, talk to them and include half an hour of sing-alongs.  Some of our music is pretty impressive and we look great with our black bottoms, white tops and pretty red scarves. Maybe that’s a signal to some people to sit and behave. Or, maybe they want to look at us. If someone is standing, they can’t see.

Distraction

We do hear some funny comments about how we look. Last night, someone pointed out to me that Michael wasn’t wearing a red scarf a couple of times (until I put one on him) and another pointed out that she could see lots of toes (-it was hot). I always tell the choir that they can be more relaxed at the seniors’ homes, and wear short sleeves, short pants or skirts and have bare legs because it’s hot and we’re trying to be informal.

For our public shows, we’re fussy. We have our pretty red scarves with gold music notes. We wear white shirts with long sleeves and black pants or skirts with black hose and shoes. We don’t want anyone distracted by our clothing or shoes. One pair of white socks, or bare legs, and that’s all some people will see.  We work really hard on our music. We want them to focus on that.

Appreciation

When an audience is sitting and listening and then they clap, it’s good. When they are moving and clapping and singing along, and then shout out at the end, it’s heavenly. Yesterday, several people spoke to me after the concert to tell me how much they appreciated it, and to ask if we could come back. Even one of the ones who was sitting quietly and without expression throughout called me over to say thank you.

This time, it was especially important to hear that all went well, because it was actually fairly stressful for us, and did not go as well as we would have liked it to. It was far from perfect. We had trouble with the space, with not being able to hear or see each other, and issues with our equipment. We had a very shaky start. Throughout the program there were challenges. Still, we had some truly beautiful moments.

Sharing

I’m so lucky be the conductor. I get so much more face time with our audiences. I talk to them during the show. I was the first dance partner last night. I’m the one that most people seek out at the end to say thank you to. I try to remember to share that with the choir. This blog is another opportunity to do that.

Don’t worry. They loved us. We worked hard and we were good.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Sharing with Seniors

Hi Everyone!

Great show!

What a great time we had with the seniors at Park Place Manor in Aurora yesterday evening!

Lively audience
They were a great audience. They were keen to sing along, and not just during the sing-along section! It makes it more fun when the audience feels comfortable and gets so drawn in to the music that they start to sing. Of course, it can be awkward for a soloist. But, we're very cool with it. In fact, I love it.

Appreciative audience
I had so many people take me aside to thank me and to let me know who much they enjoyed our show! It felt great! Two women were especially thankful and expressed how important music is to them, how good it makes them feel.

My magic wand
I think that it's not just music, but music that people can participate in that is important. When we move people to sit up in their seats, laugh and sing out, our show and our music work magic! My baton becomes a magic wand!

Making connections
Besides the musical connections we make singing with and for our audiences, we connect after the show when we talk to individual audience members. I always speak to several audience members after a show and I always learn things.  I got to speak German to someone yesterday, something I do very rarely, an added bonus.

Added bonus
I really appreciate it when the retirement home arranges cold drinks and snacks for us. The cold drinks are especially good- Park Place Manor had very nice, very cold drinks: ahhhhhh.... We get hot performing. The cookies were really good too- totally unnecessary, but so nice!  

Well done, YRCC!

I'm looking forward to next Monday!

Yours in harmony,

Renate