CMC is proud to partner with EngAGE to provide a Cantonese older adult choir residency at a Mercy Housing site in the Tenderloin. EngAGE is an organization that promotes arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building, and intergenerational programs to thousands of seniors and families living in affordable senior and multi-generational apartment communities in California, Oregon, and Minnesota. Mercy Housing is one of the nation’s largest developers of affordable housing. The new choir had its first meeting in late February and is directed by CMC faculty member, David Wong.
Each week, about 30 people come together to learn a variety of Chinese music. The new choir is modeled after other choirs in the Older Adult Choir Program through the guidance of Older Adult Choir Program staff, faculty, and the use of the Community of Voices Program Manual, following a routine that includes physical and vocal exercises, learning songs, and opportunities for socializing. Their first performance is scheduled for Monday, May 13 at Glide Memorial’s monthly celebration of birthdays.
The choir has been well-received with favorable feedback from the participants, and CMC is looking forward to continued partnership with EngAGE and serving more seniors in affordable housing communities.
To learn more about how singing in choirs reduces loneliness and increases interest in life for older adults, watch this CNN story featuring CMC Coro Solera Older Adult Choir and CMC Older Adult Choir Program staff.
Strings faculty member Heidi Kim is no stranger to playing music as a way to give back to the community. When she was a young violin student, she played concerts at retirement homes and assisted living centers. Playing in front of people and having a concert to work towards were important elements of her music education. Just as important as the practice of performing is sharing the gift of music with others. “Doing community outreach…is important to our humanity,” said Kim. “I believe in using the gifts we have to beautify our corners of the world and beyond, whenever possible.”
Cello faculty Ben Snellings will be presenting a concert of string solos and duos from the Baroque, Classical, Neo-classical, and Hungarian genres. Selections will include Haydn, Bach, Prokofiev, and Kodaly.
Piano faculty Jon Jang presents “Come Sunday: The Music of Duke Ellington in Celebration of his 120th Birthday Anniversary” featuring the works of Duke Ellington. Because the name “Come Sunday” refers to a recording by Duke Ellington and Mahalia Jackson celebrating black people’s struggle to have their own church, there also will be songs performed in the concert that Mahalia Jackson sang in the context of the black church.
Piano, guitar, and theory faculty Jono Kornfeld performs with the band Hop Sauce. The group performs mainly original compositions in a funk/jazz style, with a strong emphasis on improvisation and spontaneous in-the-moment composing.
Woodwinds faculty David Steinberg presents works that feature a combination of live instrumental performances paired with electronic and sampled elements and will feature works that are inspired by jazz, R&B, gospel, musique concrete, and avant garde. The program is an exploration of the concept of “lifestyle” and puts forth the hypothesis that the popularity of lifestyle journalism and content is due to the need to fill the void that traditional and now largely-unattainable sources of meaning such as owning a home, raising a large family, or working in a field that provides both a strong sense of purpose and a living wage, have left behind. By attempting to imbue consumerist habits with the pretense of social activism or spiritual enrichment, lifestyle journalism and content foster a soothing but ultimately artificial sense of purpose.