LAGUNA WOODS – It starts with a flutter of the eyelids, the brightening of a face.
Heads begin to bob, toes to tap.
“Was that Beethoven?” a silver-haired gentleman wonders aloud.
By the time the final soaring notes of “The Star Spangled Banner” are sounded 30 minutes later, many in the audience at South County Adult Day Service are singing along.
The group of seniors and developmentally disabled adults are beneficiaries of a partnership between nonprofit Age Well Senior Services and the Pacific Symphony to bring music to adults with geriatric-related conditions.
The program, a leg of the symphony’s Heartstrings outreach effort, consists of six informational concerts, performed by two symphony musicians. The concerts take place two Fridays a month at Age Well’s adult daycare service in Laguna Woods.
“To me, it’s priceless that we can offer this to our participants,” says Cathy Allen, program director.
The musicians – a flutist and a harpist – play easily recognized classics, incorporating scarves and small percussion instruments to encourage interaction. The concerts are followed by a “musical petting zoo” at which participants can touch, hold and play the instruments.
Allen says the concerts are more than just another activity for these seniors, about 90 percent of whom have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
“Especially for individuals with cognitive impairments, music brings back memories of the past. It’s a way of communicating. It provides socialization and it can definitely change behaviors for them, depending on what the song is.”
On a recent Friday, about 50 seniors are gathered in the sunny activity room at Age Well’s stucco-fronted building on El Toro Road. Musician Cynthia Ellis is urging the audience to tap the rhythm to a lively Corelli dance piece.
As the melody flows through Ellis’ flute, participants in the front row get into the groove.
Claaap-tap; Claaap-tap; Claaap-tap.
Others join in. Some orchestrate with imaginary batons. A man who appeared to be sleeping keeps beat on his leg.
Meanwhile, Age Well’s music therapist, Karen Skipper, is documenting her clients’ responses – their facial expressions, how they engage with the musicians, whether they are moving to the music.
The information will help her evaluate the effect the concerts are having on her clients.
“Music therapy isn’t about teaching people to sing or play an instrument. It’s about using the music to effect a change or improvement in some way,” Skipper explains.
She notes that listening to certain music can lower blood pressure and respiration.
Prior to the concerts, she and Ellis work in tandem to plan the pacing of the musical selections and the interactive elements that can help improve motor skills.
For Ellis, whose mother has dementia, performing here is especially meaningful. “Watching these people light up, it’s heartwarming for me.”
After the concert, Ellis and harpist Michelle Temple encourage the seniors to try their hand with the instruments.
Abe Kao, 58, is first in line to pluck Temple’s harp; he seems delighted with the tones he produces.
Sue Colman, 70, is next. “I’ve never done that before! It was wonderful, just to hear all the different sounds on the different areas.”
In the second row, Donald Pierce gestures for a violin being passed. The 82-year-old rests his chin on the instrument and glides the bow across the strings.
Pierce, it turns out, played violin from a teen, until he “had to get on to other things.”
A smile nudges across his sideburned jowls.
“I wouldn’t mind getting another violin and playing till I’m 100.”
Contact the writer: 949-837-5200 or jkarmarkar@ocregister.com
