Little Hearts, Big Music

“Little Hearts, Big Music” held its biggest recital yet at the Christmas Kick-Off celebration at the Colorado Springs Senior Center this past week.  Over 60 seniors were in attendance, and the children performed beautifully.  You can see some of their performances using the link to the right…Merry Christmas!!!

We had another great recital at MacKenzie Place this past Thursday (Nov. 1st).  Two quartets were able to join us – the “Woodrose Quartet” and “Fourte.”  I’ve posted a link to one of the pieces on my Blogroll – it’s amazing! And we are scheduled to provide holiday entertainment at the Colorado Springs Senior Center on November 30th…. We need to get our Christmas music prepared!!!

Noah has been practicing with a quartet led by Roxanne Matthews who also directs two other quartets. One or two of them will be joining us at each of our monthly performances….I am so excited about this opportunity-this will make our recitals even better! Thank you, Roxanne!

The children performed a recital this past Thursday at my Grandma Fittje’s nursing home, MacKenzie Place.  It was fantastic!  There are a few vocalists/pianists now so I purchased a mic/speaker system to help their voices be heard by the residents, and it was a huge success.  One resident is blind, and she sat right near the speaker so she could hear every word.  She took my hand when we were done and thanked me for bringing these precious children to her home.  It was a wonderful feeling!

This month marks the one-year birthday of “Little Hearts, Big Music!”  The children have participated in at least 18 performances over the past year and have brought countless smiles to the senior citizens here in Colorado Springs.  I am so thankful to the faithful families who have helped make this mission possible. Along those lines, one of my original three “Little Hearts” families is moving due to a military reassignment and will no longer be able perform with us.  We will miss you terribly, Kelly, Sarah, and Anna!!!!  You have helped make “Little Hearts” what it is today…

Yesterday the children performed at Viewpointe Retirement Home in Rockrimmon and did an amazing job!  A few of the children are budding vocalists and have spiced up the performances with some wonderful vocal duets.  They are truly a talented group!  I’m working on uploading some video from this recital.

Happy Birthday, “Little Hearts!”

Our latest recital was amazing!!!  Two of the families that had children scheduled to perform couldn’t make it due to illness, so two new families jumped in to help.  What an amazing job they did!  I finally got some video – see my “Blogroll” sidebar and click away!   What an amazing group of young people!  And they so enjoy sharing their gifts…The residents were thrilled to have us all there and the children received RAVE reviews!!!  This is so fun…

We just returned from G.G.’s funeral in Connecticut this past Saturday.  The trip was bittersweet – so many happy memories that make me sad she isn’t here to make more of them, and yet I am so thankful I was given the gift of her as family and friend.  Her funeral was a wonderfully simple graveside service with her loved ones gathered in celebration of a life well-lived.  Noah and Ben played their violins at her grave the next day…Noah had learned “Amazing Grace” this past week  and played it beautifully.

We got to visit Kevin’s grandma in her nursing home in Storrs, CT, and she was thrilled when the boys broke out their violins.  Next trip she wants me to plan a “Little Hearts, Big Music” recital at her home so her friends can listen, too!

Ben playing at his other Great-Grandma's nursing home

Noah playing "Amazing Grace" at G.G.'s grave

Hello!  This whole blog thing is new to me, but I’m going to do the best I can to be sure our site tells our story…I’m going to start with some pictures taken recently of my two children, Noah and Ben, playing at different nursing homes both in CT and Colorado Springs.  They love to play; I joke that if there is an ear to listen, they’ll play until exhaustion takes over!

Noah and Ben playing for their Great Grandma Richardson, "Great"