—David Menconi, Down on Copperline
Based in what you encounter on commercial radio stations or the pop charts, you might get the impression that making music is strictly a young person’s game. But Orange County’s Encore Sentimental Journey Singers pilot program stands firmly in opposition to such an idea.
The Orange County Department on Aging is overseeing the program locally, starting up a Triangle branch of the nationwide program Encore Sentimental Journey Singers. It will be the second Encore group in North Carolina, following one that’s already going in Wilmington. The aging department is in the process of mapping out logistics, including the hiring of an artistic director (stay tuned).
In the meantime, they’re already recruiting members. After announcing a call for participants, the aging department has its first public Encore event scheduled for 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23 — an online meeting via Zoom.
There will be a second gathering on May 28, both in-person at the gathering hall of Chapel Hill’s Seymour Center and online via Zoom, with a six-week pilot program set to begin in June.
While Encore is open to any interested local senior age 55 and up, the focus is on what they call “Friends living with dementia” as well as those persons’ caregivers. This is an outgrowth of a regular aging-department respite program called Our Place, which frequently employs music to encourage creative aging.
“Music is well-known to be beneficial to all brains, not just those with dementia,” says Alison Smith, social engagement program coordinator for the aging department. “It wakes the brain up, builds neuroplasticity and muscle memory, elevates the mood. It’s good for social engagement, and also entertaining for people who just want to come listen. It really checks a lot of boxes. Music is a love language, a way that caregiving partners, neighbors and friends can connect.”
These benefits of music are profound and potentially long-lasting, too.
“Music is so much a part of everyday lives and that won’t ever change just because you have cognitive changes,” says Janice Tyler, director of the aging department. “It still lights up that part of the brain. One thing we’re trying to do is change the face of dementia. We want people to think about it differently, because it’s not the end of the world when you get a diagnosis. We’re trying to do innovative programming in support of not just the person living with cognitive change, but also their caregivers. This will be something they can do together.”
The Orange County Department on Aging’s Encore Sentimental Journey Singers’ first online organizational meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23.
