ORGANIZATIONAL BIO (SHORT) What started out in 1982 at a Western Massachusetts elderly housing project to joyfully pass the time instead of passing before your time has developed into the stereotype-defying, generation-crossing musical extravaganza better known as The Young@Heart Chorus. From The New York Times to TIME, The Tonight Show to The Ellen Show and stars of the Fox Searchlight Top 50 all-time documentary, Young@Heart, this group of fearless seniors, ranging in age from 73-92, has toured from Northampton to New Zealand, Europe to Japan. Featured in E*Trade’s acclaimed Super Bowl ad This Is Getting Old (2018), Young@Heart continues to wow audiences worldwide while conducting weekly rehearsals and concerts with incarcerated singers in two local prisons through their PrisonVision program launched in 2014. In their annual Mash-Up concerts, they collaborate with the best youth performance groups, including Staten Island’s PS22 Chorus, Chicago Children’s Choir, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Young@Heart will release Miss You their newest live album, and first in eight years, in October 2020. ORGANIZATIONAL BIO (LONG) What started out in 1982 at a Western Massachusetts elderly housing project to joyfully pass the time instead of passing before your time has developed into the stereotype-defying, generation-crossing musical extravaganza better known as The Young@Heart Chorus. Featured in the 2018 E*Trade Super Bowl ad and stars of the hit Fox Searchlight documentary Young@Heart, this group of spirited seniors, ranging in age from 73-91, has toured from Northampton to New Zealand, Europe to Japan, proving it’s “possible to grow old without growing boring.” (The Dartmouth) In 2008, Young@Heart made its first visit to perform for inmates at a local prison, arriving at Hampshire County Jail with no idea what would happen. The results were inspiring. In 2014, we returned, this time to make music with, and not for, the incarcerated. Our weekly rehearsals continue at the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction in Northampton and the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center in Chicopee. We rehearse new songs with 3 groups of dedicated singers. Every 6 months or so we hold a concert in each prison for the incarcerated and prison staff with the prison groups backed by Young@Heart Chorus and Band. Based on the success of our first “Intergenerational Mash-Up” in February 2013, Young@Heart continues its annual series of collaborative concerts with some of the best children’s music groups in the country including the renowned Staten Island, New York-based, fifth grade singing group PS22 Chorus, Springfield, Massachusetts’ SciTech Band, a revered local 300-member high school ensemble, the Chicago Children’s Choir, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The Fox Searchlight documentary, Young@Heart, originally broadcast on Channel 4 television in the UK, still ranks as a Top 50 box office documentary of all time. It won two Rose d’Or awards, the LA Film Festival Audience Award, screened at Sundance and SXSW Festival before being released in the US, and later, in the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, and Japan. It won the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival, the Paris Cinema International Film Festival, Ghent Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Bergen International Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival, among others. In collaboration with No Theater, Young@Heart has performed in the trilogy of theater shows — Road to Heaven, Road to Nowhere, and End of the Road — at The R Festival in Rotterdam, Manchester International Festival, London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), Zurich Theater Spektakel, Spielzeit Europa in Berlin, Dublin Theater Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, and the National Theater in Oslo, Norway. The Chorus has performed its concerts “Alive and Well” and “This is Getting Old” at venues around the world including the Royal Carré Theatre, Amsterdam; Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Place des Arts, Montreal; Wilshire Theater, Los Angeles; Capitol Theatre, Salt Lake City; Paramount Theater, Denver; Beacon Theatre, New York; Warner Theater, Washington, DC; Orchard Hall, Bunkamara Theatre, Tokyo; Civic Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand, and at the Newport Folk Festival. Young@Heart has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The singers, with an average age of 85, are among the people most at risk and will be one of the last groups to perform in public given how infectious singing is as an activity. While in quarantine, the chorus has been recording music and preparing to release their first album in eight years. Miss You, their newest live album due out in October 2020, will feature the chorus covering artists such as The Rolling Stone, Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Prince, and David Bowie, among others. Young@Heart Chorus is a non-profit 501(c)(3) arts organization. Young@Heart receives support from the Janey Fund and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. CHORUS MEMBER BIOS Sara Lee Bartley (1938) Born and raised in Connecticut, Sara Lee grew up in a musical family, participating in choir and community musical theater. After moving to East Longmeadow, MA she raised three children and worked alongside her husband building a data processing business that employed thirty local people. She’s volunteered with Head Start and Habitat for Humanity, researching properties to build on, and chaired the local chapter of the American Field Service, an international student exchange program. Now in Easthampton, MA and living at the Treehouse Community, she advocates for End of Life Options to become law and brings people of other cultures together as well as helping elders mentor families with foster children. Since 2016. Helen Boston (1930) Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Helen went to junior high and high school in West Philadelphia. She married and had nine children, six girls and three boys. She worked for many years for the school district of Coatesville, and the state of Pennsylvania, then retired and relocated to Florence, MA. She loves performing with the Young@Heart Chorus, making Quilts, arts and crafts, and decorating with balloons. Helen has even performed as a background performer in The Great Debaters directed by Denzel Washington. Since 2002. Lu Cauley (1929) Lu resides in Agawam, MA. She was raised in Springfield, MA, in a Portuguese speaking home, which helped develop her love of languages and culture. Her passions include music, reading, travel, and sharing her life with her four wonderful daughters, five grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. After raising her family, Lu graduated from Westfield State College in 1975 with a degree in Elementary Education and ESL. She retired from Springfield Public Schools after 25 years teaching. A professional storyteller, Lu is a past president of the Chicopee Historical Society and a former member of the Springfield Symphony Chorus. In addition to Y@H, she is a soloist with the Agawam Melody Band and feels her music is a gift to be shared with others. Since 2012. Joyce Dearman (1938) Joyce has always enjoyed working with seniors. In her sixties, she entered Miss Senior Massachusetts and was awarded Miss Congeniality. She joined the Swinging Singing Seniors, and performed in churches, towns and nursing homes. During this time she met three members of Young@Heart – and it’s also when she learned about being young at heart! Since 2011. Rollie EmonD (1937) Rollie was born in Holyoke, MA, the youngest of two children. She attended school in Chicopee and graduated from Holyoke High School. She married and had five children, and worked for 19 years at ShopRite Supermarkets, and 12 years at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Her husband passed in 2007. She has eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. Since 2011. M. Eileen Litke (1939) A native of Fitchburg, MA, Eileen also lived in Ohio but has called Western Massachusetts home for the past fifty-five years. Eileen is a retired dental assistant with a husband, two children, three grandchildren, two stepchildren, two step-grandchildren and recently a great-grandchild. She began taking tap dance lessons in 2004 and also loves gardening, sewing, crafting, old movies and British mysteries. Eileen has sung with church choirs and choral groups, and was a member and Sponsorship Director of the former Swinging Singing Seniors of Chicopee. Since 2012. Barbara Lockhart (1941) Born in New Rochelle, NY, Barbara joined the Peace Corps upon graduation from college and taught French in Ghana for two years. She moved to Denver in 1971 and worked for many years in travel and then as a computer programmer for the U.S. Court of Appeals. She also played percussion and flute in a community orchestra and band. Today she enjoys volunteer work, walking and singing. She has two children. Since 2015. Steve Martin (1928) For the past 75 years, Steve has sung in churches, choruses, community theaters, saloons, and Young@Heart. He may retire after reaching 100. Since 2000. Norm Moreau (1933) Born and still living in Chicopee, MA, Norm has performed in several grammar, high school. and college productions. After a stint in the Navy, he married his wife Rosalie in 1959. They have a daughter. Norm retired from Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, CT, after 35 years as a Senior Standards Analyst. He has participated in several choirs since 1979, including the Chicopee Community Choir, Moose Lodge Choir, Swinging Seniors of Chicopee, and several church choirs. He and Rosalie love to travel. Since 2014. Rosalie Moreau (1934) Born in Easthampton, MA, Rosalie has been active in various forms of dancing and singing all her life. She has danced in many shows. Rosalie retired from Mount Carmel Grammar School in Chicopee after 20 years of service as school secretary.