Sound Investment Phase 2!

​This month will see a new group of seniors playing music – for other seniors throughout the community. The performances are the culmination of a six-month project where seniors were invited to participate in skill development workshops to take their music to the next level and share it with others.
 
Participants in WIT’s Sound Investment Project will perform at the Thomson Centre and Copper Ridge Place on March 9. The following week they will play at Whistle Bend Continuing Care Facility. Additionally two performances will be held at Lorne Mountain Community Centre on March 13 at 7 pm and at Marsh Lake Community Centre on March 16 at 4 pm which are free and open to the public. For more information, click here!
 
Following the launch of the project at the end of September approximately 45 people signed up and participated in the skill development workshops. Over the next three months all participants learned about their chosen instruments, as well as about how to play and work together as a band. Eight groups were formed under the instruction of Scott Maynard, Annie Avery, Andrea McColeman and Barbara Chamberlain. This phase of the project concluded at the end of December. Three groups have chosen to participate in the next phase of performing for the continuing care facilities.
 
Science is showing us how beneficial music is for the mind, especially as it ages, and is something we've seen first-hand through our past projects, especially 2018's Stories Into Songs where professional musicians helped seniors make songs out of their stories. Many participants of Stories Into Songs found it incredibly inspiring, but some wished they could play music themselves. So we developed Sound Investment to give those people the opportunity to learn more about playing music, but also to still have performances in the community because music is marvelous for its benefits to both the player and the audience!