The Music for Seniors program provides entertainment and a little companionship for older adults, bringing musicians to their homes and to assisted living facilities. At right, Kathy Chiavola sings for Sarah Smith. Below, John England entertains at Imperial Manor.
Julia Rich, at left, of the Glenn Miller Band, sang and told stories at a dinner presented and hosted by the Cumberland at Green Hills. The evening, which included a silent auction, was a fundraiser for Fifty Forward Music for Seniors Program.
At right, Cumberland at Green Hills resident Odell Hawkins dances with Music for Seniors director Sarah McConnell.
Music for Seniors director Sarah McConnell, at right, sang with guest musicians during the recent Music For Seniors concert at the Centennial Park band shell. More than 80 older adults crowded the band shell and sought out shady spots on a sunny autumn day.
MONDAY, JUNE 8 10:00 a.m.
KNOWLES SENIOR CENTER
174 Rains Avenue
Complimentary refreshments!
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Born in 1949 in post-war Germany, Gunther Knaup began studying piano during his early childhood years. As a member of the prestigious “Tolzer Knabenchor”, a world famous boy’s choir, Gunther toured throughout Europe.
After high school, he continued his studies in music education and piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and later at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, Germany where he graduated with a Masters Degree in Performance and Educational Piano.
In 1979, Gunther responded to a call from Broadway composer Charles Strousse and CBS producer Bert Decateaux, to work as arranger and studio musician in New York City.
Over the years, Gunther has worked as an entertainer and pianist in four-star hotels and resorts throughout the world, including The Plaza, New York. From pieces by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Chopin, Debussy and Brahms to Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and Gershwin, Gunter’s repertoire is a sure crowd-pleaser and his exquisite playing not to be missed!
Gunter makes a guest appearance on May 12 with Nashville Symphony musicians in the popular, “OnStage at the Schermerhorn.”
October 14, 2008, Music for Seniors launched its FREE DAYTIME CONCERT SERIES with a one-hour variety musical show featuring hit country artist, David Ball (Thinkin’ Problem, Riding with Private Malone). www.davidball.com About 100 turned out on this beautiful fall day to enjoy the outdoor event at Centennial Park band shell. Swain Schaefer, Bryan Cumming and Sarah Martin McConnell joined David for an entertaining hour of music. Free refreshments were served, and GREAT FUN WAS HAD BY ALL!
Our second event took place on December 4, 2009 at The Schermerhorn Symphony Center for a full dress rehearsal performance by the Nashville Symphony. www.nashvillesymphony.org The program included Charles Ives/orch. William Schuman’s Variations on “America,” Aaron Copland’s Symphony for Organ & Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92.
“Howard Pink and His Musical Garden Hoses” was our March, 2009 offering, which took place at the Park Manor auditorium. Howard Pink, a French Horn player formerly with The New Orleans Symphony, explored the history and development of the French Horn. Howard’s program included singing, storytelling and musical magic, with demonstrations of wind instruments ranging from the conch shell to the 15-foot Wooden Alphorn.
“Music for Seniors” - Nashville’s FOX NEWS 17 FEATURE
Sarah Martin McConnell, founding director of Music for Seniors, received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas, Austin and her master’s in social work from the University of Tennessee, Nashville. A professional musician, singer and songwriter since 1976, Sarah’s accomplishments include solo performer as well as lead vocalist with various jazz and pop bands, performing in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Nashville. Her national commercial credits as jingle singer and SAG/Aftra actress include spots for What-a-Burger, Western Airlines, Toyota and Opryland U.S.A. Twice featured as a “New Folk Artist” at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, Sarah has been a regular performer with her group, Sarah Martin & Company at the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville. Sarah’s songwriting credits include: Must I Fall (Walter Hyatt, “Music Town,” Sugar Hill Records) and The Standoff and Reach for Me (Walter Hyatt, “Some Unfinished Business,” King Tears Music). Sarah furnishes distinctive seasonal entertainment to retailers, hotels, corporations and private parties with her costumed trio, The Caroling Troubadours, with their first CD released November, 2005.
Sarah currently lives in Nashville with her husband, Mickey McConnell, and her mother, Marguerite Martin who, after being displaced from her home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, is the inspiration for Music for Seniors.
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