Bridging Generations with Music
Bridging Generations with Music
But concerts aren’t the only reason people from six counties and 40 towns come together each week to rehearse. They also come for the unique relationships that build here between musicians—whose ages range from 4 to 89.
“I didn’t realize when I started how important these relationships would be,” says the orchestra’s founder and conductor, Lorraine Marks.
At first, Marks explains, she simply hoped to motivate her students. A longtime music teacher and string specialist in Cranford’s public schools, she remembered what had inspired her as a young student learning the viola.
“My music teacher, who was well into his 70s, invited me to play with his contemporaries,” she recalls. “I wasn’t all that proficient, so I sat next to the violist. I was stringing along, mimicking the motions, and they came to my house week after week to play with me. They encouraged me, and I learned a great deal from them, not only about music, but about other things in life.”
Marks realized that re-creating this experience for her students could be just as valuable, and the idea of an intergenerational orchestra blossomed.
An “open call” notice for musicians in local and state newspapers brought 70 people to the first rehearsal in 1993, and the NJIO became reality. Today, the orchestra is made up of three groups: a nouveau, or beginning, orchestra; a full or intermediate level; and a chamber group for more advanced musicians.
“The orchestra is set up so there’s an older person paired with a younger person (at each music stand),” says Marks. “Often the older person helps the younger, but sometimes a younger musician will help an older musician who might be beginning.”
The orchestra’s unusual configuration is part of its success, says NJIO concertmaster Maurice Kelhoffer. So is the opportunity for everyone from students to retirees to play in an orchestral setting. Everyone finds a welcome: The orchestra holds no auditions and emphasizes cooperation, not competition—a concept important to Marks, whom Kelhoffer calls the glue that holds the orchestra together.
“Music is a universal language,” says Marks. “This is an opportunity to use the music to communicate, as a common ground where people can be equals.”
At age 14, viola player Michelle McKenney has been a member of the orchestra since it began eight years ago and remembers partnering with an older musician in the nouveau orchestra. “Sitting next to him and seeing him beginning when I was beginning was the coolest thing,” she says. “(He) was like a best friend.”
So many people are judged on looks or playing ability, she adds. Getting to know the older musicians has helped her look beyond, to see them as people.
“People feel an acceptance here,” agrees Marks. “The fear is often, ‘Is someone going to judge me?’ Here, the opposite happens. Someone encourages you, asks if you need help.”
One of the most likely people to offer assistance is Helen Kucharik, 76, the orchestra’s accompanist and music librarian. “We all come from different walks of life, (but) we all relate to each other in such a wonderful way,” she explains. “It’s the music that brings us together.”
The music also provides a conduit for building relationships beyond the orchestra, notes Marks. A cultural grant makes free lessons and instrument rentals possible, volunteers help with programs, and the school system provides rehearsal space that in turn brings adults into the schools.
“The part the community plays is important,” says Marks. “I see this orchestra as an example of a place for people to come together. I see such huge potential for intergenerational activities, not just in music, but in the arts in general.”
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