CHESAPEAKE ARTS CENTER PARTNERS WITH ENCORE CREATIVITY

Organizations team up to provide musical opportunities for older adults in the Brooklyn Park area.

Chesapeake Arts Center (CAC) announced a new partnership with Encore Creativity, the nation’s largest choral organization for adults 55 and older. Encore is launching a choral group at Chesapeake Arts Center to serve residents in Brooklyn Park and Northern Anne Arundel County. The group will meet at CAC on Tuesdays from 10:30 am to noon beginning September 6. The cost to join the choral group is $190/15 week semester. Scholarships are available to ensure all local residents have access to the group.

Encore groups are non-auditioned and open to all who have an interest in singing; they meet weekly for 15 weeks. Regardless of experience, members are invited to join others with the same love for music, to come together in a supportive social environment. The CAC/Brooklyn Park group will perform a concert at the end of the semester in CAC’s Hammonds Lane Theater on December 15. The conductor for the Brooklyn Park group’s first semester is Jacquelynne Fontaine, who will lead the group in a repertoire that includes Messiah’s Hallelujah Chorus, Silent Night, Sleigh Ride, Ose Shalom, and other holiday favorites.

“We are excited to welcome Encore Creative as a CAC partner. It’s so important that we support creativity at any age and at any level. This partnership will serve as an opportunity for our community’s older adults to participate and perform with other music enthusiasts at CAC,” says Donna Anderson, Executive Director of Chesapeake Arts Center.

This program will provide an accessible artistic environment for older adults seeking to enrich their arts education and performance abilities, regardless of prior experience. Arts experiences for older adults not only provide positive physical and mental health benefits, they have also been proven to reduce chronic loneliness and social isolation.

This partnership will invite underserved adults in the Brooklyn Park community to come together and share their love for singing.

Encore Creativity was founded by Jeanne Kelly in 2007, to provide a fully accessible artistic environment for older adults, an underserved population in the arts throughout the country. Encore has become the nation’s largest choral organization for adults over 55, with 15 Chorales, 6 Encore ROCKS choruses and nearly 2000 singers across the country. Regardless of experience or ability, Encore offers arts education and performance opportunities while providing a positive social outlet that encourages community building.