Exonians Perform for Seniors at Riverwoods
By ADELLE PITTS, HANNA WEI, and GRACE YANG
As fall foliage covered the Exeter campus, 10 Exonians packed up their instruments and embarked on a journey inside a “compact van” to the Riverwoods Retirement Community in the town of Exeter. On Wednesday, Oct. 23, barely weeks after the fall student soloist concert, several performers came together as a group to bring the joy of music to Exeter’s elderly residents.
These Exonians were selected from the pool of students who auditioned for the student soloist concert. After communicating time slots and availability with each other, the Music Department picked the performance date for the concert.
Chair of the Music Department Marcus Rabb described the inspiration behind the concert, saying, “The inspiration behind the Riverwoods Concert Series stems from the philosophy that as musicians, we are in the business of spreading “joy” and connecting with people.”
“A difficult part for performing this concert was that it was pretty last minute; I had to practice a bit to get [the piece] back into my hands,” prep Avni Murarka, who played the sitar, recalled about the preparation process.
Upper Nate Frary played two pieces on the guitar: “Merry Go Round of Life” from the animated Studio Ghibli film “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra. He described a difficult part of preparing for the concert as understanding each piece at a deeper level in order to convey a specific feeling or story. “Performing a song is a lot more than playing the right notes,” he said. “Musicians like me have to work hard to play each note with the right tone to create a flow throughout the song that fully conveys the story of the piece. For my first piece, I had to balance playing with a bounding, playful tone with a sweeter sound in some parts to create intrigue and contrast that told a more interesting story.”
Although on short notice, the Music Department successfully put together an impressive and thoughtful concert. “Ms. Darby created the performance order beforehand, and each of us went up to the stage in turn and announced our piece(s) before playing,” said upper Evan Fan, who played Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 on the piano.
“The audience was pretty full and supportive of the performers throughout the concert,” Fan said, sharing that he was excited to perform the piece for the first time.
Recalling the performance hall, upper Martin Yau described it as a “mini hall, like the Bowld, but shorter. There were approximately 30 elderly citizens in attendance.”
The performers and senior citizens established a special connection through the music, reciprocating genuine appreciation for each other. “There was a lady who really enjoyed our piece and was saying something positive to Avni and me,” said lower Laavanya Rasiah, who played the Tabla. “I was glad that we could share our culture, especially since it was their first time hearing the Tabla and Sitar being played.”
Senior Paco Sze added, “I definitely felt some degree of gratitude and connection with the audience. One of the members of Riverwood reached out to me and said that it was a great performance; ‘Bring Him Home,’ the song we played, was actually one of her favorite songs from Les Mis, so I was really happy to hear that.”
“I think being able to share the love of music is always a great thing,” Yau said. “Plus there were many different instruments, for example, someone played an instrument that originated from India, which was really cool to hear. Being able to perform with a bunch of different musicians from different backgrounds was just a great experience.” The concert helped widen the perspective of both Exonians and senior citizens, as everyone attending the performance was able to truly listen to and connect with each other through the music.
Giving back to the community was another key aspect of why so many students agreed to give up much of their Wednesday afternoon to perform. “Senior citizens may not be able to attend concerts on their own so being able to show up there and perform concerts for them is something I really enjoyed giving back to the community,” said lower and pianist Ryan Wang. “Music is such a great way of calming the soul, I’m happy to share this experience with [the senior citizens].”
“In my experience, older people are most appreciative of music,” said Frary. “I think the profound emotion that music conveys reminds them of the things that were and still are important in their life, for important things elicit the most emotional responses. Reflection with the added effect of music can be a uniquely powerful experience. I cherish the fact that I can give people such an experience with just a wooden box and some strings.”
Hopefully, this will grow into an annual project where Exonians and senior citizens can connect through the impact that music presents. “This means a great deal to that community as well as to me,” said Rabb. “We hope to see this grow.” The Music Department is always finding new ways to spread the love of music to our greater Exeter community.
Photo Courtesy of Barb Darby