Katie O\u2019Nell is a precocious 12-year-old\u2013the picture of the all-American pre-teen, complete with freckles and braces.\u00a0The Lewis Middle School seventh-grader rolls her eyes as she answers questions about the Melody Makers music group, an informal collection of friends she put together two years ago.\u00a0During the school year, they perform a variety of selections, from classical to pop, at local retirement homes on the last Friday of each month.\u00a0 On this particular Friday evening, the venue is the St. Paul\u2019s Villa assisted living center on Fourth Avenue Downtown. A jet roars through the darkening evening sky on final approach to Lindbergh Field.\u00a0Purple Jacaranda petals cover the sidewalk in front of the 122-unit venue, which houses upwards of 110 clients at a time. O\u2019Nell and her mother, Jennifer Coburn, are waiting in the comfort of some overstuffed chairs in the quiet, ornately carpeted lobby.\u00a0\u00a0 Melody Makers started around the end of the 2007 school year, O\u2019Nell explained, speaking clearly and precisely, without the use of the ubiquitous “like” that seems to pepper the conversations of many children her age.\u00a0She was doing a project with the Girl Scouts at the time, a project that made her think about some sort of community service work in the area. “I\u2019d been taking piano lessons since I was about 8, and that was around the time that they were starting to get more interesting\u2013not just scales and stuff,” she said.\u00a0Trying to combine her desire to help the community with her passion for music, she came up with the idea for Melody Makers.\u00a0 “I realized that I had a ton of friends who could all play piano or another musical instrument,” she said. Finding enough friends was no problem, and, with the help of her mother, O\u2019Nell set about contacting hospitals and retirement homes in the area. O\u2019Nell emcees each event and galvanizes everyone in advance by sending reminder e-mails and creating an event program with the performers\u2019 names and pieces.\u00a0Coburn and another mom contact the homes and arrange for the children to come in each month. Karen Kerhin, St. Paul\u2019s Villa administrator, reported that the venue\u2019s average age is 88. A trove of experience resides in such a collective, she said\u2013and awakening that experience is a key component of the residents\u2019 comfort. “When we have music groups come in,” Kerhin explained, “we\u2019ll often have them play music from the era the residents are from. That [awakens] memories, and that gives them a better sense of well-being.” St. Paul\u2019s also hosts an intergenerational meet-and-greet program, wherein elderly clients make contact with others from succeeding generations. “A lot of times, the residents can\u2019t have their great-grandchildren here. The program lets them connect with younger people,” she said, furthering social contact and the pleasant memories that evolve therefrom. But the real miracle is in the music. Wholesale studies reflect the art\u2019s vital role in lifting the spirit and in healing certain psychological and physiological imbalances. Increased awareness of these findings has taken on a certain refinement in professional circles in the form of the Certification Board for Music Therapists, a Downington, Pa. institution that credentials and recertifies more than 4,500 Certified Music Therapists (CMTs) nationwide. “Anytime you smile at a senior,” Kerhin said, “it brightens their day. The music makes it even better.” On this evening, 10 children ranging in age from 7 to 15, CMTs in their own rights, have arrived.\u00a0All are ready to play one or more pieces on the piano, violin or flute.\u00a0The residents of St. Paul\u2019s have begun to file into a spacious ballroom next to the lobby, where several rows of chairs sit next to a wooden dance floor.\u00a0In the far corner, beside a pair of French doors that lead to the central courtyard, a large white grand piano faces the room. The front row is empty. The seats behind are sparsely filled with gray-haired ladies and two elderly men as O\u2019Nell gets things under way.\u00a0She introduces herself, explains what the group is and why it\u2019s here.\u00a0She introduces the first performer, 7-year-old Aubrey Hanna, who strides across the room and disappears behind the huge piano. From the far side of the room, only a tiny pair of legs is visible, swinging beneath the bench as the music begins.\u00a0 The skill level varies from child to child, but each receives a hearty round of applause from the audience and the back row, filled with beaming parents.\u00a0The residents seem genuinely pleased to have the young people come in and perform.\u00a0 “They\u2019re always great,” said one lady.\u00a0“It\u2019s a delight to have them here every time.” And both groups made out like bandits this time. It turns out, Kerhin said, that “everybody got to taste each other\u2019s cookies” as patrons and players had brought the treats for the other, not knowing each was bearing the same gift. Afterward, O\u2019Nell makes her way through the rows, speaking with each resident.\u00a0She makes sure the reporter has spoken to each child and checks that everyone\u2019s name has been spelled correctly.\u00a0Then she insists that they all sit for a group portrait. The Melody Makers “are always looking for more people,” said O\u2019Nell.\u00a0She can be reached at katieonell@cox.net. Jennifer Coburn\u2019s e-mail is jencoburn @cox.net.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Katie O\u2019Nell is a precocious 12-year-old\u2013the picture of the all-American pre-teen, complete with freckles and braces.\u00a0The Lewis Middle School seventh-grader rolls her eyes as she answers questions about the Melody Makers music group, an informal collection of friends she put together two years ago.\u00a0During the school year, they perform a variety of selections, from classical […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11556","_seopress_titles_title":"Melody Makers brings centuries-old tradition to street level","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11556,11547,11593,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-downtown-news","category-features","category-no-images","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}