Community Arts

The artistic side of this project is designed to bring life-long enrichment to the lives of senior chorus members. Velvet Tones is a non-auditioned senior adult choir. As the members are not auditioned, this means that the skill level of the artist varies widely placing additional stress during rehearsal on the director. Weekly rehearsals are conducted throughout the Velvet Tones’ season. Recently in the news, Mick Jagger age 71 years, was asked, “What’s your secret in keeping your voice so strong?” Jagger replied, “Practice. You have to do it. You have to do warm-ups.” The same is true for our senior members. Their practice sessions always start with vocal exercises. Another vehicle for practicing is the “single-voice practice CDs” created by Rich Clausen our director. Access to the single-voice practice tracks has been improved through the use of the internet by placing the single-voice tracks on-line at our website http://www.velvettones.org/downloads/. CDs are still available for those who don’t have internet access. The need for practice CDs was the result of grant-funded member opinion polls. The polls indicated that a fair number of our members lacked the ability to read music. While not all members are at the highest level of skill, that has not stopped our director, Rich Clausen, from selecting interesting, complex choir arrangements with very wide music styles and genres. As a result, the practices and shows are enjoyable for the choir members (and audiences too). It is interesting to note that one choir member only attends the rehearsals…for the pure enjoyment. This member’s skill is a definite aid to the choir. Audiences have remarked on “how much fun” our choir members are having. The wide range of music can be appreciated by a partial list of the song titles: “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Mickey Mouse March,” “Cripple Creek,” and “God Bless America.” It is not uncommon for the young children to profess that they want to be a singer in a group like Velvet Tones. Accepting our artistic challenge, rehearsals were expanded to 90 minutes. Ability-expanding music was selected requiring purchase of new sheet music. Two arrangements were made by our director, Rich Clausen. Our director enjoyed unusual artistic notice. The induction of Rich Clausen and his band, The Swinging Ambassadors, into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame has brought his name to the attention of long lost fans. This prestigious fact is used in the introduction of Rich to the audience. The Velvet Tones Choir members are very active in the Apple Valley Senior Center. The members take on more responsibilities than typical Apple Valley Senior Center members. For example, several choir members have served as president of the Apple Valley Senior Center. This contribution is very much appreciated by the management of the Apple Valley Senior. Due to the support the center receives from the Velvet Tones Choir, there is no charge to the choir or Metropolitan Regional Arts Council for use of the facility. The Mission Statement for the Velvet Tones is: To share the joy of singing, the fellowship of others and promote performing arts throughout the community. Additionally for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council grant, the choir promised, “The Velvet Tones senior choir serves the needs of two groups: nearly 80 senior choir members; and, an underserved audience across the Greater Metropolitan Area.” Through recruitment, the choir has continued to maintain a membership level of 80 members, plus or minus. It should be noted that we do not have direct control over the attendance makeup; particularly at care homes and senior housing. People in the facility may not feel “up to” attending an event. The size of the audience is not what matters but the need of the audience. As noted in the summary below, the choir exceeded its goal for attendees this year. Through careful vetting, our director ensures that each venue meets our accessibility requirements. If not, we refuse their request for a show. Accessibility requirements must be met for both the audience members AND the choir members. Throughout the year, there are numerous articles regarding the contribution music makes to the physical and mental wellbeing. A recent article chronicled the life of the oldest known Holocaust survivor who died at the age of 110. In her Oscar-nominated movie, “The Lady in Number 6,” she comments, “Through music we were kept alive.” We hope in our small way, we too are helping people in senior care centers to have increased enjoyment in their lives. Another recent article covered the benefits of music as noted by the MacPhail Center for Music. They feel that housing for seniors, “…to be blunt, [is] a bore.” As an advocate for music, MacPhail Center wants to help senior renters ‘age artfully’. The Velvet Tones agree. In recognition of the mission of the Velvet Tones, the Velvet Tones were invited to sing at the MacPhail Center. Our 9 grant performances drew over 1010 people exceeding our goal. The average audience was 112 people per show. Grant shows had an average of 37 Velvet Tone members performing. Our 19 Paid performances drew 1455. The average audience was 86 people per show. Grant shows had an average of 42 Velvet Tone members performing. A total of 28 Grant and Paid performances were conducted. All 28 shows combined drew an audience of 2465 attendees. The average audience was 95 people per show with an average of 42+ Velvet Tones members performing. The annual audience for the Velvet Tones exceeds 1000. One significant outcome is the competition by grade school choirs to be chosen to participate in the annual “Festival of Music.” The melding of the children and senior voices is amazing. Our surveys show a 100% ranking of 5. More meaningful are the written comments, “Our residents look forward to this concert! It is an awesome performance!”