"Rock and roll has traditionally been our domain, for and by young
people. Tradition, however, does not apply to Northampton's own Young @
Heart Chorus, which has been bucking convention in the best sense since
1982. This group of senior citizens, aged between 73 and 89, performs
numbers by the likes of James Brown, The Clash and Coldplay - music,
one member says, they once asked their kids to turn down but now these
25 geriatrics gleefully dance to onstage.
Founded by residents
of the Walter Salvo House, a residential project for the elderly on
Conz Street, the Young @ Heart Chorus first started performing in 1983
under the direction of Bob Cilman, now 54. It currently has several
veterans of WWII and the Korean War and three retired Smith College
staffers, as well as a mix of trained singing professionals,
experienced amateurs and complete newcomers to the stage as members.
Local collaborations have included the Pioneer Valley Gay Men's Chorus,
a group of Latino break-dancers and No Theater, whose continued
affiliation with Young @ Heart led to a serendipitous European tour in
1996. Eleven subsequent tours of Europe, Australia and Canada followed
the choir's spectacular first-time success - they have even performed
for a cheering crowd of Norwegian royalty. Similarly, though originally
greeted with derision, Young @ Heart also had the inmates of the
Hampshire County Jail cheering, and in some cases blubbering, after a
performance there last year.
All of the chorus' previous success
is culminating in a major documentary feature, due to premiere in New
York and Los Angeles on April 9 and, if all goes well, nationwide later
this month. "Young @ Heart" the film follows the group as they prepare
for a concert in their, and our, very own Northampton. The Boston Globe
lauded the film as "possibly the most rapturously received documentary"
at Sundance this past January and it has already elicited positive
feedback from the likes of Vanity Fair and USnews.com. In an article
covering the Utah film festival, Newsweek noted "this alternately
hilarious and heartbreaking movie will send you out of the theater with
a new lease on life." Indeed, the comedy of a troupe of grandparents
earnestly singing "shake it like a Polaroid picture" a la Outkast is
tempered by the constant threat of death. As choir member Steve Martin,
79, effectively put it, "I don't know how many more 15 minutes we'll
have in our lifetime[s]."
The Young @ Heart Chorus: "Walk on the Wild Side"