At The Workmen’s Circle Multicare Center

I looked for the entrance of Workmen’s Circle Multicare Center. Its turquoise pillars stood out in this residential Bronx neighborhood on a dismal December day and I knew I had found the right place. Workmen’s Circle Multi-Care Center is a 525-bed non-profit rehabilitation center/nursing home. I walked through the front doors and I told someone at the front desk that I was with Peace of Heart Choir and asked where we were rehearsing. He directed me to a room directly across from the desk where I found Rene and several other choir members waiting for guidance as to where we would go next. Apparently, they were not aware we would be performing. But that it is possible on a weekend performance such as this when the director was not there. I joked to fellow choir members we were being sequestered as the glass door was closed, the space was tight, and it was very warm—even warmer than the nursing home itself which is always warm as a rule of thumb.

A lady who was a manager came by and rescued us and brought us upstairs to a chapel where we left our belongings and it was time for the outreach to begin. We lined up and I took notice of the room. A Sunday meal menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was posted on the wall with a photo of Liberace at the very top. I joked to Howard, “It appears that Liberace presides over the Sunday meal.” Howard laughed. I then noticed the poster of a record that read “Rock and Roll” across it. If you looked to your left, you could see you were in a hospital/nursing home setting. When you looked in the direction of the dining hall, it felt like a combination dining hall/classroom with all of its decorations—a place almost stuck in time meant to probably evoke nostalgia with its posters of Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and Liberace as I mentioned before—just to name a few. Rene warned us before we entered of the frail state of the people in attendance. I was prepared for it as I was so familiar with my Dad’s frailty at the end of his life 5 years ago after a battle with lung cancer. Many residents were in wheelchairs and had breathing tubes.

We took our places and it was time for the outreach to begin. From our opening number, Siyahamba, it was evident we had a fan in the front row. She had a breathing tube and was in a wheelchair and she was just as bold and spirited as her red lipstick and the bright red beads she wore around her neck. She was pounding her right fist in the air in response to our music. At the end of the song, in a raspy voice, Jeanette shouted, “Excellent.” We continued with a lovely Wanemo to which Jeanette exclaimed, “Beautiful.” It was also clear we had another fan. He was in a wheelchair on the opposite side in the front row. He wore a drag racing cap and seemed to be a native New Yorker and was very assertive in his approval. A festive Carol of the Bells was next followed by Michael Row the Boat Ashore. There was a lady sitting at the left hand side of the room in the corner. I made eye contact with her a few times. It was during Michael Row Your Boat Ashore, she seemed to become more involved in the outreach. Her eyes lit up. During Down by the Riverside, we went out to shake the hands of the residents which I found really moving and I know my choirmates found especially touching as well.

When I shook the hand of the lady who became involved during Michael Row Your Boat Ashore, she revealed a most gracious and gentle smile as she mouthed, “Beautiful” to me and she said softly, “My throat is sore. I wish I could sing.” That Lonesome Road featured a heartfelt, lovely solo by Nancy. Oye Come Va was a great fun, up tempo number. A pretty Pokarekare Ana, our Maori love ballad and a pensive Light One Candle followed. Next was Happy Xmas(War is Over). I’m so glad that Deb suggested we reinstate the choral refrain War is Over. I know many other choir members have commented what a difference that makes in preserving the integrity of the original meaning of the song as written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. And what a wonderful vocal quartet we had for this song: Brian, Gail, Gary, and Maryann. Our number one fan, Jeanette, especially appreciated this tune as did several audience members. Rock-a-My-Soul was next followed by our wonderful anthem for our children, Give Us Hope and our signature anthem, Let There Be Peace on Earth. Exemplary musical accompaniment was provided throughout the outreach by Brian and Marv on guitar and Rene on ukelele/cigar box guitar as it was affectionately referenced. Deb, Barbara, and Ellen also provided fine musical support.

We carpooled back to Manhattan and Queens, respectively. It had been a touching outreach—the last outreach of the season. I thought of when I shook Jeanette’s hand during Down by the Riverside. She said, “Bless You.” I felt blessed to have met her and to have been a part of this Peace of Heart Choir outreach. Blessed indeed.

-Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At The Jewish Home & Hospital

The room was large, but there were only two rows of regular chairs. The rest of the floor was in reserve for residents who would be coming down in wheel chairs. A few were there when we started warmups, which included testing Rene’s latest toy—his portable mike. When Leslie tried it out with Ciribiribim, one of the early-birds mouthed all the words. After the warmups I spoke to a man who was looking through the singalong handout. I said he probably knew some of the songs, and he said, “Oh, yes! Pete Seeger!” He said he hadn’t known about the concert and was “getting ready to turn in,” when someone came by his room and told him about us. “I’m glad I came down,” he said. I pointed out that the concert hadn’t started yet. “Doesn’t matter. You guys are good.” Rene arranged us in a semi-circle so we could hear each other in the spongey (his word) room—first-sopranos facing second-altos across the piano. And then it was time to begin.

Siyahamba, as always, was a great opening. It says to the audience, This is who we are—enthusiastic, fun-loving, energetic. Come into our world. These residents got it. They may not have been physically able to dance in the aisles, but it was obvious from their smiles and participation throughout the concert that they were engaged. They were especially energized by the two singalongs, Rock-a-My-Soul and Down by the Riverside. Rock-a-My-Soul is always my favorite, when we embed ourselves among the audience members and our voices blend with theirs. Tonight I got the feeling that singing was a lost art for some of them—a few didn’t get the courage to join in until the last repetition or two, but when they did, there was such joy on their faces. At the end, a few residents told us that they loved the concert and wished we had had a longer program. They also said they would have liked more singalongs.

This concert was special for me in another way, too. While we sing for our audiences, we also sing for ourselves, and tonight, POHC members were treated to some spectacular performances by our fellow singers. (I don’t think it was just that they used Rene’s new mike.)

Gail and Leslie in Wanemo. Laura and Charlie in You’ve Got a Friend. Leslie in Ciribiribim. Wilfred in Lonesome Road. Barry in a surprise rendition of It Had to Be You. Marv’s piano accompaniment to Light One Candle.

Wonderful concert. For the audience as well as ourselves.

-Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At The Carter Burden Senior Center

It was an especially chilly mid-November afternoon but you would never know it as you walked into the Carter Burden Senior Center on Saturday afternoon. The seniors’ recreational room where we would perform was quite warm. As Dave noted, “I always forget how warm senior centers are.” I arrived and joined a nice-sized group of Peace of Heart Choir singers beginning Rene’s vocal warm-up. There were no fewer than 6 choir members attired in purple and Rene smiled and noted to Wilfred that we should get a purple picture as he was dressed in a purple shirt as well. The concert opened with a signature opening number of one of our core songs, a rousing Siyahamba followed by Wanemo. Next was the Maori ballad Pokarekare Ana with Brian and Dave providing fine musical support to Rene on lovely ukelele with a reverie-like feeling. The sing-along Down by the Riverside with spirited musical support from Brian and Dave followed with several of us running exuberantly into the audience to shake the hands of the seniors. We ran back to our places.

Barry did a sweet little impromptu surprise for the audience of It Had To Be You. Rene then introduced a fine new selection to this season’s repertoire, the Carole King classic, You’ve Got A Friend, a fitting piece for the spirit of outreach. Appreciative audience members visibly sang along to this one.

The next tune was a perfect follow-up, the James Taylor standard, That Lonesome Road, introduced by Rene with lovely vocal support from Nancy. Our outreach continued with another sing-along, Rock-a My-Soul. We started by singing each of the three choral parts to coach the audience. Then choir members ran into the audience and we split up into three sections to encourage audience members to sing along.

I noticed one audience member sitting in the back left hand side who seemed as if he might just want to rise from his seat as we sang but remain seated. We started our next song, Oye Come Va, introduced by Rob with fun, rollicking musical accompaniment by Dave and Brian. It was rousing and fun and I decided to start to dance to the music with the intention of getting the gentleman who seemed as if he wanted to dance to Rock-a My Soul on his feet and, of course, and any other audience member who wanted to dance.

I motivated one lady who was the first to get up and dance in front of the audience and finally, the gentlemen who I felt wanted to dance. You just couldn’t stop them. And it was such a delight to behold to see the seniors dancing—definitely a highlight. Next I introduced one of our core repertoire songs, the Jim Papoulis anthem for the future of our children, Give Us Hope. Our voices soared and filled the room. Ruth introduced our last song of the afternoon, one of our core repertoire pieces, Let There Be Peace on Earth. Again our voices filled the room.

After the concert, we did our usual audience feedback surveys. Ida came up to me and said that she loved us and we had to come back. As I walked out, a senior who had just seen the concert stopped me to say ‘thank you’ and held his heart. I then held my heart and said ‘thank you’ in return. He then leaned in closer and said, “ You rock-a my soul.” It was our first visit to Carter Burden Senior Center and the temperature wasn’t the only warm thing--it was the hearts and spirits of an appreciative group of seniors who look forward to our next visit.

-Carrie Wesolowski, Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At DeWitt Rehab and Nursing Center

I arrived late (because of work) to find a few residents seated around tables listening to the choir singing "That Lonesome Road." The sound was so good I thought it was the concert and realized it was the warm-up only when Rene stopped before the end of the song.

One of the recreation workers came around to the tables with a beverage cart that had wine as well as soft drinks. She put out plates of chips, too, cabaret-style. Then it was time to begin.

"Siyahamba," always a rousing opening, drew enthusiastic applause. We followed that with a mix of old and new pieces. I enjoyed seeing members of the audience singing along to songs other than the official sing-alongs, in particular, "You've Got a Friend."

Residents and a few of their visitors kept coming in, and before long, all the tables were full. Anthony's mom, Jeanette, was also in the audience, along with her sister, who lives in Indonesia and hasn't been to New York in 23 years. Anthony's mom sang and bopped along with several songs, like the honorary choir member she is.

Marv and Dave provided excellent accompaniment, freeing Rene to do what he does so well--conduct and help us sing with more nuance, and also get the "s" and "t" sounds on the right beat.

For me, the highlight of the evening was "Rock-a-My Soul," when Rene divided the audience into three groups and the choir broke formation to stand among them. I was with the residents of Group-3. Some sang with more gusto than others, but they were all obviously enjoying themselves. One woman was a bit tentative, but I could tell she really wanted to do this. We locked eyes, and the longer we held the connection, the more she sang with more confidence.

On the way out, I talked to a woman who said, "Encore, encore." I told her she should have shouted it sooner, before we had our coats on. She said, "I did, but no one heard me." This wasn't the official opening of our fall season. We already sang two concerts with the Fusion ensemble and one by ourselves at the 9/11 memorial. It felt like the opening, though, the first concert where we connected to the audience in an intimate setting. We didn't sing "Furaha!" tonight, but we definitely sang joy.

-Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At The Hamilton Senior Center

I walked into Hamilton Senior Center and a smiling Ruth greeted me, directing me to the restrooms and to the room at the end of the hallway where Peace of Heart Choir was rehearsing. Rene noted that there was a ‘lovely sound quality to the room’ and, I would add, an infectiously excited, almost giddy, feeling among choir members. We were all looking forward to our first outreach in a few months and our second collaboration with the Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble. Abigail, the coordinator of the center loves to start promptly and so at 1:30 pm sharp, we made our way into the main room. We entered and found Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble in their places. We found our spots in our respective sections, having to squeeze in a bit to make room for all of us. I looked out into the nice-sized audience. Our program opened with a rousing Star Spangled Banner, a joint effort between Peace of Heart Choir and Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble.

The program continued with one of Peace of Heart Choir’s core songs, Siyahamba. There was a lady who was sitting in one of the front rows in the center who had been to an earlier Peace of Heart Choir outreach concert and so she sang along enthusiastically to Siyahamba, mouthing the words which was absolutely a joy to behold. Next was our traditional Maori ballad, Pokarekare Ana, with lovely introductory accompaniment by our choir director Rene on ukelele and fine musical accompaniment by Brian Muni and Dave Koch that lifted the song to another level.

We performed our solo efforts in pairs, so the next set was enjoyable versions of Masquerade Waltz from the Masquerade Suite and La Bella Cubana performed by the Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble.

We followed with a set of Peace of Heart Choir’s core songs, Peace Salaam Shalom and a soaring Give Us Hope, by Jim Papoulis, a traditional anthem of September Song and the September Concert Foundation. Give Us Hope really resonated with an appreciative audience. The song felt triumphant, buoyed by Dave and Brian’s uplifting musical accompaniment that really helped to escalate the feeling of anticipation and, ultimately, triumph.

We took our seats during the Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble’s sets and of their solo efforts, I particularly enjoyed A Call to Courage by William Ross from the 2006 motion picture” Ladder 49”. Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble’s Conductor Stephen Francis Vasta made a point of the fact that the Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble has exclusive rights to the piece. For me, the real treasure of the piece was, as I affectionately refer to him, “The Little Drummer Boy”, Frederick Chau, the adorable little boy who was the guest artist on percussion.

The two centerpieces of the Peace of Heart Choir/Classical Fusion Chamber Ensemble collaboration closed out the concert: Hope, with lovely vocals from Gwyn Griffin and Non Nobis Domine with fine vocal support from Gary Baker. Non Nobis Domine, with really lovely conduction from Rene, really showcased the collaboration of the two groups. And so we were ready for our encore. Rene posed the question to the group, “So what shall we do?” I and a few other choir members called out, Let There Be Peace on Earth. And so it ‘twas—a lovely way to end a lovely afternoon of music. We took our bows to a nice amount of applause and made our way outside into the hallway. As I walked towards the end of the hallway, a senior who had just seen our concert said, “Thanks for a great concert.” “It was our pleasure”, I responded. “What’s your name?” “Bob", he said. Then Bob said the most touching thing. “It made my day.” Well that was music to my ears. I smiled to myself and I thought 'that’s the magic of outreach and precisely why we do what we do.'

-Carrie, Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At Hallmark Battery Park City

The Hallmark of Battery Park City is an elegant residence facility that provides independent living, assisted living, and supportive services for seniors.  We sang in their well-appointed lounge, arranging ourselves around the grand piano to face the two sections of the audience in front of us and one on the side. Those of us standing closest to the piano could also see past the audience into the adjoining game room, where four residents were sitting at a table playing cards. The Choir has sung at the Hallmark before and we always receive a warm reception from this culturally savvy, alert, and responsive audience.  They pay close attention to the introductions as well as the music.

We opened with our usual: Siyahamba.  At the end of our concert, Vivian was talking to a woman who said she liked that we sang songs “from around the world.”  She said that when our very first song was in Zulu, she knew we were no ordinary group and this was going to be a special evening. We followed that with Wanemo and Child of Kwanza.

Next came Oseh Shalom.  Several people in the audience sang along with it.  Vivian was in a position to see into the game room, where the playing stopped and one of the gamers was tapping on the table in time to the music.  (By the end of the concert, all the gamers had left the table to migrate over to the concert.)

This group did well with Rock-a My Soul, evidently knowing part-1 and being sports about singing parts-2 and -3. To help them along, some choir members went out front to lead them in their sections.  They also liked our other sing-along, Down by the Riverside.

They knew who Tom Lehrer and enjoyed Chanukah in Santa Monica, which we followed with Oy Es Dia, Waltz of the Flowers, Rainbow, and Imagine.  Then came Aquarius, with Brian Muni doing the solo honors.  It was wildly received, even by this relatively sedate audience.  It was nice to see the recreation worker dancing in the back of the audience.

Renee introduced our last number, Let There Be Peace on Earth, and many of them joined in on that, too.

At the end, the brother and sister duo of Marv and Vivian Conan went to talk to Marv’s wife’s aunt, who is 93 and was sitting in the front row.  Some of the people sitting near her started talking to Vivian. One said she was a graduate of Hunter College and was interested to know that we sang there.  Another said that Rene had mentioned a CD, and she asked how she could get one.  At Rene’s suggestion, Vivian gave her the POHC pamphlet and she said she would get it online.

Vivian got questions about where we sang, how many we were, where we rehearsed, and “what is the background of your leader,” this from a resident who was impressed with Rene because when we sang, she could understand all the words.  One man said that this was the most enjoyable entertainment he had been to there.  Then he repeated, the most enjoyable.

The recreation worker invited us to join them for a coffee and cookies reception afterward, and a good time was had by all.

-Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert.

At Kittay House Seniors Sing Out!

We had a large audience in the Bronx, at Kittay House Senior Apartment Living, on Saturday June 23--as big as the one at the church in Queens when we sang with the children’s choir. They were patiently waiting for us to begin when we were asked to hold off so they could clean up a spill in the back of the performance area. In true POHC fashion, we used the time to mingle with members of the audience. René was chatting with a man in the audience when, all of a sudden, the two of them burst into an operatic aria that could be heard throughout the room.  It turned out that Kittay has its own choi, of which this man is a member. In that same pre-concert mingling, I met a man in the front row who was from my old neighborhood in Brooklyn.  We discovered that we had both gone to the same junior high school. He and his wife, who was sitting with him, were Brooklyn College graduates, class of 1944.  I told them that my mother and I were also graduates of Brooklyn College, class of 1936 and 1964 respectively.

By then, the mess was cleaned up, and we were on. This was a hard hall to sing in because of the acoustics–we could hardly hear ourselves–but the audience loved everything we performed. They sang along with This Land Is Your Land, and also with Hungarian Dance, Let There Be Peace on Earth and a few other songs.

At the end of our performance, the Kittay recreation coordinator spoke about what joy we brought to everyone and how our spirit was contagious.  (She told us earlier that she is a cantor and had looked at our website thinking she might like to join, but she couldn’t make the time commitment right now). Then she asked whether she could invite all the Kittay choir members to stand with us so she could take a picture of the two choirs together.  They made their way up front with their walkers and smiles. I asked one woman whether she sang soprano or alto, and she said, “Anything they need.”  After our photos were snapped, our two choirs did a sing-along together, with René at the piano and the audience joining in heartily.

At this, our final concert of the season, a good time was had by all. Have a great summer 2012 and we'll be back for our Fall season, with rehearsals starting in September.

-Peace of Heart Alto

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn't take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you'll join us at a future concert.