Community
BY KAMERYN GRIESSER
The group puts on seasonal performances each year.
Love Notes Chorus is composed of people with memory loss, their caregivers and professional singers.
PHOTOS BY KAMERYN GRIESSER COMMUNITY IMPACT
Memory loss patients perform in Love Notes Chorus Every Monday morning, St. Matthew’s Epis- copal Church’s parish hall lls with music sung by a choir of over 70 people. Two-thirds of the members are people with memory loss and their caregivers who sing, clap and dance to the classics. Love Notes Chorus is Austin’s rst choir for
From left: Edie Elkjer and Susie Higley founded Love Notes Chorus in 2019.
The impact Higley said music is a well-studied treatment for patients with memory loss, allowing them to connect with positive memories and improve their emotional state. In the middle of each of the group’s seasonal performances, a few choir members will go up to the microphone and share their personal memories about a song. “After each concert, it’s remarkable how many audience members tell us they’re moved and motivated to join the group,” said Andrew Ver- desca, a singer who joined the choir in 2021 with his mother-in-law, who has dementia. “There’s so many people out there with this condition—we all know someone.”
people with Alzheimer’s disease, and is meant to uplift people struggling with memory loss and foster community among their caregivers. The backstory In 2019, Edie Elkjer—the current music director for Love Notes Chorus—and her friend, Susie Higley, partnered to start the nonpro t. In just four years their membership grew from 27 people up to 85.
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St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 8134 Mesa Drive, Austin www.lovenoteschorus.com
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