Wacky Olga
On Hal
loween we performed at the University House, Wallingford and we had a ball!! I believe our audience did too. For this Halloween show, Olga arranged a couple of “scary” pieces to add to our program (the theme from Alfred Hitchcock’s TV show {Gounod’s “Funeral March for a Marionette”} and a bit of music from “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saëns). We also dressed up a bit for the start of the show (I always like being a witch!). The beautiful room was decorated with spiders and spider webs, bats, ghosts, skeletons and other spooky things. There was Halloween candy set out for the residents. Very festive.
After the show many residents came up and talked, looked at the instruments, or just lingered happily. My favorite comment was from an older gentleman: “Thank you so much for bringing this concert to us. I used to go out to concerts like this all the time, but now, I’m not able to go out.”
That comment is what keeps us going—knowing that what we are doing, bringing music to senior facilities of all sorts, is appreciated and, more importantly, needed.
After another show at the Stratford at Maple Leaf facility (November 19th), we were all touched by the many comments:
- “We usually get concerts of popular music, and it is good—but this was really special!”
- Asked, why did you like this (Baroque) music a resident answered: “This music made me a little dreamy, my mind could just float”
- “I really enjoyed this concert—I’ve never heard music like this before”
Linda & Maria Peña
One very special conversation I had after this concert was with a lovely lady, Maria Peña, who grew up south of Laredo, Texas. She took me aside and said:
“I usually stay for only a couple of minutes at a show because I have a very bad back and sitting for any longer is very uncomfortable. But after a few minutes I knew I didn’t want to leave. I tried to sit as comfortably as I could so that I didn’t hurt too much. The music was so wonderful and brought back many happy memories of my childhood—I remember my two Aunts playing music on the violin and a strummed instrument (not an autoharp but maybe a Phonoharp-lm) and I would just sit in the yard listening to them play. I just loved it. That’s how I felt today. I know that I am going to pay for this tomorrow with back and leg pain–but it was worth it. Thank you so much for coming.”
Thank you Maria for staying!
