FREE CONCERT!

Enjoy a free concert by the Local 802 Senior Concert Orchestra on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 West 67th Street. Musical director David Gilbert will conduct a program including Beethoven’s Symphony #2, Debussy’s “Petite Suite,” and selections from “Oklahoma” by Richard Rodgers. Violin soloist Jesus Reina will play Mozart’s Violin Concerto #3 and “Caprice Basque” by Sarasate.

Free tickets and more info

There are three ways to get free tickets to the Oct. 20 concert:

• If you want your tickets in your hand prior to the concert, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Senior Musicians Association, 322 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036. In a cover letter, please tell us how many tickets you would like, and please provide your contact info, including name, address, phone number and e-mail address, so we may keep you informed of future concerts.
• A quicker way to reserve your free tickets is simply to send us an e-mail at SeniorMusicians@gmail.com. Include all of your contact info and how many tickets you’d like. We won’t send you your tickets ahead of time, but you’ll be able to pick up your tickets at the box office on Oct. 20, prior to the concert. Please pick up your tickets by 1:30 p.m., which is 30 minutes before the concert.
• Free tickets will also be available at the box office, right before the concert, while they last.

 For more information, please contact Dr. Lyn Christie at SeniorMusicians@gmail.com or (914) 968-6036.

VOICES OF EXPERIENCE

Older is wiser. The Research Center for Arts and Culture at Teachers College Columbia University is conducting a research study of performing artists aged 62 and older. Local 802 has been asked to participate

The study will attempt to answer some of the following questions:

• What’s your income? Do you have other assets?
• Who has health insurance or life insurance? How much are you paying for it? Where did you get it?
• Who has taken their pension already? Have you taken it early due to the economic crisis? What are you receiving from your pension?
• How much did you spend on food, healthcare, housing, transportation, work/rehearsal space, etc.?

In addition, questions about career satisfaction and career goals will be explored.

Any information that Local 802 contributes to this study will be provided with no names or personal identifiers attached.

If you want to participate, contact Professor Joan Jeffri at jj64@columbia.edu

FREE PIANO PROJECT A SUCCESS

You might have noticed a piano this summer outside in some random place in New York City. Sing for Hope, a public service organization for artists, installed 60 pianos in the parks and public spaces of New York City’s five boroughs that were available to all who passed by. The project took place from June 21 to July 5.

“Many people never touch a piano, so we brought pianos to the people,” said Camille Zamora, who, together with Monica Yunus, are the organization’s co-founding directors as well as being best friends from Juilliard. Last year, they read an article in the New York Times about British artist Luke Jerram and his “Play Me, I’m Yours” street piano installation in London. Zamora and Yunus felt that bringing street pianos to New York would be a great way to highlight Sing for Hope’s mission of making art available to all, and they contacted Jerram to initiate a partnership.

Sing for Hope arranged for “piano buddies” from local community organizations to take care of the 60 street pianos. After their two-week public residency, the pianos were donated by Sing for Hope to local schools and hospitals.

For more information, see www.SingForHope.org