Insights and information
about music, brain health, aging, and much more.
You’ve Got Many Friends (Just Like Carole King)
There are stories of pieces of music just coming to the composer or songwriter as if it’s an immediate download. There is a sense of not even thinking, not exerting with effort, but rather of being the receiver of the music. As a composer myself, I’ve had that...
Guess Who’s Singing Beside You? Judy Peres—One Fabulous Adventurer
Judy Peres is writing a memoir that promises to be what booksellers call ‘a good read.’ “Old Growth: A Memoir of Love, Lumber, and Late-Life Exuberance” relates Judy’s adventures after age 60, when many of us are easing into retirement. Not Judy! She took a buyout...
The Guy Who Wrote “Aquarius” and “Let the Sunshine In” – who was he?
If you used your powers of visualization to imagine the personality, look, and temperament of the person who wrote all of the music for the 1968 counter-cultural Broadway smash “Hair,” what sort of person would you see in your mind’s eye? Take a moment and try to do...
Her Memory Is Liquid: Poetry, Memory & Music
My friends and I often despair about the “stuff” that crowds our closets, bookcases, file cabinets and storage units. We dread the thought of going through it, making decisions about what to keep and what to toss. But occasionally we come across a forgotten gem that...
Pianos in the Park and More
Offbeat Ways to Experience Music in the City – Chicago is known for its rich spectrum of musical offerings and summer in the city only heats up what’s on offer and doubles it. You can’t beat the Grant Park Music Festival, or the Millennium Park Summer Music Series…
Good Memories—Where Everybody Knows Your Name (And That’s All That Matters)
The care partner pulled me aside on the second rehearsal of the session, eager to ask some questions. But first, he offered a few comments. Frank, care partner for his wife, Sarah, is new to Good Memories, referred by a friend. Sarah, in the early stage of dementia,...