Menlo is home to a medley of talented musicians who perform in competitions and events at Menlo, but many may not know that there are also a few who use their talents to bring joy to communities outside of Menlo. One example of this initiative is a group of Menlo violinists, pianists and singers who gather at local senior centers around the Bay Area every few months to play their favorite tunes and build relationships with senior citizens.
Juniors Benjamin Park and Kate Hsia reached out to their peers with hopes of creating a music group that could perform in senior centers around the Bay. “I know that senior citizens probably really appreciate listening to music that they can’t otherwise go out and listen to,” Park said. “I thought it would be really cool for us to first give musicians at Menlo a platform to showcase their music and do a service for the senior citizens.”
Park and Hsia, along with juniors Clifford Palmer and Amanda Kim and sophomore Lucas Wang, performed at the Terraces at Los Altos in the middle of March and have at least three to four other performances scheduled in the upcoming year. They will perform once before school ends, multiple times over the summer and once during September.
The group plans on performing in front of senior citizens at least once every three months on the weekend, with their next recital scheduled for May. Around 20 seniors attended their 45-minute performance in a common room converted into a makeshift stage at The Terraces at Los Altos. “We have people play multiple songs or people playing with each other, and then people playing solo, so it’s really fun,” Hsia said. “People were hearing the music and then more people came downstairs.” While the group primarily plays classical tunes, jazz and pop songs make occasional appearances.
Palmer, who plays the violin for the makeshift music group, enjoys interacting with the senior citizens after performing. “So many people came up after our recital and were like, ‘Thank you so much, that was amazing. I love to hear young people playing instruments,’” he said. “It’s just really nice to be able to play for people who are so appreciative of it.”
The group has also served as an opportunity for the musicians to form bonds with each other. Palmer learned how to play the violin with Wang when they were kids, but the pair hadn’t played together in a few years. “It was nice to play with him again,” Palmer said.
Hsia, who primarily plays the piano in competitions, appreciates the change of pace that comes with performing in front of the seniors. “There’s never really a way for me to share my music in more of a carefree environment,” she said. “I find it really rewarding at the end because all the seniors will come up to you and say ‘Oh, you played so well. We love this. We never get this,’ and it’s just very gratifying.”
Seeing the seniors react to their performances with joy-filled expressions strengthens their passion for music. “When I see people smiling in the audience, and just overall having a good time, that makes me feel pretty happy,” Wang said.
