Easter Concert At Astell House

On the last weekend of term we had the privilege of organising and performing in a concert for the residents of Astell House. Songs included classic hits from the 50s to the 80s, ranging from Elvis Presley to ABBA as we aimed to include a diverse range of music that the residents might be familiar with. Learning some of these was definitely a challenge since not all of us were familiar with them. However, being able to share our music with them was absolutely rewarding, as they sang along to the familiar tunes with smiles on their faces. One of the residents described the music we performed as from 'their times' when we talked to them at the end, yet what we all experienced in this concert was the ability of music to transcend time, geographical and physical barriers, and connect generations; it was indeed music from 'our times' - both us performers and the residents - as we all came to appreciate the music together.

The highlight of the concert was definitely the performance given by UC4s Terra, Faith and Mary, who had joined us for the first time with live music. Performing their warm and heartfelt rendition of 'What a Wonderful World', we were treated to a truly magical moment as they brought hope and wonder into the room. They proved themselves an audience favourite as they audience requested for an encore, where they once again brought us a beautiful version of 'Moon River'.

We are truly grateful to everyone for getting involved in this concert especially the trio of Terra, Faith and Mary, which hopefully has provided the residents with some feelings of connection, as well as offering us a humbling and enjoyable experience.

Written by Janice Law