Our most active student musician volunteer, Natalia Betzler, serenaded residents of NeuroRestorative in Fairfax on September 18th. NeuroRestorative serves people of all ages with brain, spinal cord and medically complex injuries. Along with classics such as “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Mamma Mia”,  and “Summertime”, Natalia sang some songs in Spanish for the Spanish-speaking residents. “La Bamba” was a big hit! (click below to hear). Thank you, Natalia!

“It went great! Natalia has a beautiful voice, and it was a real treat for all of us!”

— Chris Francisco, NeuroRestorative

With a big bin of ukuleles to pass around, BTM music coordinator Rob Thomure led a ukulele class on July 16, 2019 at Bello Gardens in San Anselmo. The residents worked on their strumming technique and their C chord, and sang and played along to “Puff the Magic Dragon”, “Row Row Your Boat”, “Run through the Jungle”,” Summertime”, “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”, and “You are My Sunshine”. Everyone had a great time. LITA could not be so successful without the partnership of the facility staff. Thank you, Shelley, for your support!

“... we are so happy and grateful to have the LITA music program at Bello Gardens. As you can see from our residents faces, they were lit! Music certainly touches the soul and the brain. ”

— Shelley Katz, Activity Director, Bello Gardens

A full house of residents turned out to hear the fine harmonies of 8 members of the Marin Harmony Chorus at Creekwood Senior Home on June 28 in Novato. Classic gems such as “Under the Boardwalk”, “Sentimental Journey”, “In the Still of the Night”, “Stand by Me”, “My Girl”, and more were performed. Click below to hear an excerpt from the Do Wop classic “In the Still of the Night”. Many thanks to director Daria and members of the Octet, and to the staff at Creekwood for hosting!

Tam High rising sophomore and veteran LITA music volunteer Natalia Betzler entertained the residents of Greenwood Assisted Living in San Rafael (formerly Harmony House) with her finely- honed vocal and piano talents on Wednesday June 19th. Her repertoire included “Summertime”, “What a Wonderful World”, “Golden Slumbers” by the Beatles, “Sunday Kind of Love”, “Mamma Mia”, and many more classic gems. She was in fine form, and brought smiles and happy reactions as her audience recognized the well-loved, classic songs. Thank you, Natalia!

A Bridging Thru Music volunteer along with BTM music coordinator Rob Thomure led a sing-a-long on June 10, 2019 at Bello Gardens in San Anselmo. With Rob accompanying on ukulele, well-loved standards such as “What a Wonderful World”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Meet Me in St, Louis”, “Summertime”, “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” and many more were sung with a full house of residents. Shelley Katz, Bello Garden’s Activity Director commented: “The residents loved the ukulele sing along on Monday. LOVED! When I reminded those residents who do not recall things from one day to the next, I got back positive responses. It does so much to raise their spirits when they get to sing songs they remember”. Thanks to our volunteer, and thanks to Shelley for facilitating and being so supportive!

They clapped, laughed, sang along, and barked like a dog (ok, so it was a song about an actual dog) as David Maloney brought his songs, stories, guitar, ukulele, and banjo to entertain the residents of Creekwood Senior Home in Novato on Friday, April 19. David, well-known as a performer on the folk festival circuit as well as one half of the duo Reilly and Maloney, sang originals such as his “Finnegan’s Farm”, and “Ridin’ on the Old Rainbow”, as well as old standards such as “Oh Susanna”, “This Land is Your Land”, and “You Are My Sunshine”. Thank you, David, for a wonderful and heartfelt musical interlude!

Led by music teacher Rachel Kim, and back by popular demand, the choir from Branson School in Ross once again demonstrated their fine harmonies for Windchime of Marin on April 16, 2019. “Beautiful!”, “That was great”, and “awesome” were some of the comments. Be sure to listen to an excerpt of their rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” below. Many thanks to Rachel and all the students in the choir for bringing smiles to the Windchime Memory Care residents!

The Mill Valley Middle School’s Orchestra and Bluegrass bands entertained more than 30 Aegis residents the other day. They played lovely orchestral pieces and got the audiences’ toes tapping with fun bluegrass!

Directed by DARIA, 20 members of the Marin Harmony acapella chorus performed 15 songs such as “Under the Boardwalk”, “My Girl”, “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’”, “Day Tripper”, “I Can See Clearly Now”, “Stand by Me” and 9 more for residents of Aegis in Corte Madera, Ca. on March 18. They had the enthusiastic audience smiling, clapping and singing along, with residents commenting afterwards on how wonderful they were and that they were going ask Aegis management to bring them back! One lady said they were "an absolute gift of talent that leads to love and peace". Thank you, Marin Harmony!

Bridging Thru Music volunteers and first-year high school students Natalia Betzler and Zach Lee did a combined set at Drake Terrace in San Rafael on Sunday, February 17, 2019. Natalia sang “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, “New York State of Mind” by Bill Joel. “What a Wonderful World” and more; Zach sang “Blackbird”, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen and several others. Plus they did a couple of duets! Both will be involved in this summer’s Mountain Play: Natalia will open with her band, and Zach will be an ensemble performer. Many thanks to Natalia and Zach!

Led by Branson School music teacher Rachel Kim, 13 chamber music students took turns performing works by Mozart, Dvorak, Bach, Schubert, Faure, Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn for residents of Kindred South Marin in Greenbrae, Ca. on December 3rd. They played beautifully, with great passion and precision, dazzling residents who can’t normally get out for music concerts. Kudos and many thanks to Rachel and the students!

Led by music teacher Rachel Kim, the choir from Branson School in Ross demonstrated their celestial harmonies for Windchime of Marin Memory Care residents on November 14, 2018. Singing some songs a capella and others with piano accompaniment, the selections included pieces by composers Pachelbel, Samuel Barber, Thomas Weelkes, and John Jacob Niles. They sounded beautiful and Windchime says they would love to have them back. Many thanks to Rachel and all the students in the choir!

Tamalpais High School student Natalia Betzler enchanted the residents of Drake Terrace on Sunday Oct 14 with her astonishingly adept piano playing and fine singing. From classical pieces to songs made famous by The Beatles, Billy Joel, Etta James, Louis Armstrong, Carole King, and George Gershwin, there was something for everyone. LITA’s music coordinator Rob Thomure played the “Quiz Man” by asking some pop music questions between songs. Audience comments included “What a talent!!” and “Can she come back every Sunday?” Thanks, Natalia!

Two Marin Catholic High School students, Jake Chuharski and Nic Meringolo, performed in the Sun Room at The Tamalpais Healthcare unit in Corte Madera, Sunday September 16th. Nic played guitar and sang, and Jake was on keyboards and vocals. The Beatles “Let it Be”, two Frank Sinatra tunes, Elvis Presley’s “Burning Love” (with a few Elvis moves by Nic!), Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”, a classical piece and some originals were part of the musical treats provided by the duo. There were smiles and applause all around- even the attendant behind the food counter said “great job!” Thank you, Jake and Nic!