Photo Flash: Sing For Your Seniors & BC/EFA Partner to Donate Piano to Encore Community Services Center

On Tuesday, June 30, Sing For Your Seniors (SFYS) dedicated at a special performance the new piano it donated to the Encore Community Services Center in the heart of the theater district. The purchase, made as part of SFYS' ongoing Piano Placement Project, was made possible by a grant from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The audience included seniors from Clinton and Times Square served by the Center, which provides social, recreational, and educational activities, entitlements counseling, crisis intervention, and mental health services to seniors in need.

Sister Lillian McNamara, Director of Operations at Encore Community Services said, "The piano is beautiful! Words cannot express our gratitude. The seniors have been coming up to the stage, paying homage to it. Sing For Your Seniors brings hope and joy to a very vulnerable group that is often forgotten by our society."

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS executive director Tom Viola, who was present for the dedication and performance, said, "I love seeing the smiles that Sing For Your Seniors brings to your audiences throughout our community week after week, year after year, and I'm glad BC/EFA can support your good work."

SFYS's executive director Jackie Vanderbeck said, "This grant from Broadway Cares is making it possible for the many seniors who rely on Encores' services to enjoy live musical performances on a regular basis for many years to come. We also saw what a source of pride this beautiful instrument is for the dedicated and hard-working Encores staff, who do so much to ensure better lives for so many seniors in our community."

The musical session, hosted by Vanderbeck, included performances by SFYS volunteers Bill Coyne (MuseMatch, GREED: A Musical For Our Times), Julia Johanos, Angel Reda (Chicago, Wicked (LA) Hugh Jackman in Performance (LA and TOR)), Jeanine Robinson (Ragtime Nt'l Tour, Disney Entertainment), Hannah Zimmerman (NYU Tisch '16) and by Vanderbeck. Musical Director Kristen Rosenfeld (MD Spring Awakening Nt'l Tour) accompanied the singers on the new piano, purchased through a special arrangement with Steinway & Sons.

View photos below!

Sing For Your Seniors is a non-profit organization that uses music to changes lives. Since 2005, we provide senior citizens with immediate and long-term benefits through musical enrichment in adult day centers, in hospitals and in living centers. Our seniors build ongoing relationships with talented young Broadway and Broadway-bound performers as they connect through music. Our volunteer performers get to "give back" as they share their talents with enthusiastic audiences. For more information on Sing For Your Seniors or to apply to perform with us in NYC visit - www.singforyourseniors.org

Photo Credit: Amanda Taraska