Insights and information
about music, brain health, aging, and much more.
Picking Music = Love
It is gratifying when singers come up to me spontaneously after rehearsal with bright eyes and say, “I love this music!” This happened many times in past Encore sessions, and it’s happening again now. This is true whether I picked the music on my own (as for the first...
Good Memories: The First 5 Weeks (Jonathan’s Blog)
It’s the beginning of October. We’ve now held five rehearsals of the Good Memories choir. As many of you know, Good Memories is our new choral program for people with early-stage memory loss and their care partners, singing together in a choir along with a remarkable...
No One is Invisible
“What we hear from people who have been diagnosed with dementia is this: ‘other people stop looking us in the eye; they stop calling us by name; they cease physical contact; and they stop expecting anything from us’.” These were the words of Mary Lenard, co-director...
Make a Joyful Noise: Snowbird Day
This blogpost is from Sandy Siegel Miller, our amazing uber-volunteer and #1 cheerleader, with photos by Hyde Park Chorus Master Joy Rosner: I arrived at Thursday’s Snowbird Day with the first verse of Psalm 100 on my mind: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all...
Social Connectedness: Encore Singers in Community
by Sandy Siegel Miller, Encore Illinois Board President This isn’t an unusual scene at Encore rehearsals -what’s unusual is that I took a photo. The Hinsdale rehearsal ended about 15 minutes before this photo was taken and around half of the choir had already headed...
Chorus America: Featuring Helen Gagel, Jim Lavin, & Karen McGuire
We are pleased and excited that three of our singers were featured in this new article on the Chorus America website about the experiences that older adults have singing in a choir. The article features Helen Gagel from the Evanston Encore Chorale, Jim Lavin from the...