Contactivity and the Interlink Choir
Interlink is the name of a program which brings together seniors and young people to make music and make friends. There are Interlink choirs in various towns and cities across Canada, and in the United States.
The concept is a simple one, but it works magic for all those who participate. Youngsters, usually Grade Six level, and seniors from local senior community centres are paired off as pen pals for the duration of the academic year. They also practice the same choir pieces, and occasionally have joint practices. The culmination of the year's hard musical practicing comes in the spring, with at least one concert for the whole community to enjoy.
The friendships which evolve between these widely-separated generations are genuinely rewarding for both young and old. In today's world of mobile, nuclear or single-parent families, many young people don't get to know their grandparents or others of their grandparents' generation. They can benefit from this steadying presence, as much as the seniors benefit from the injection of youthful enthusiasm and spontaneity. The shared experience of making music together helps the whole process along.
Each year, interested members of Contactivity Centre can join up for the choir, which holds its practices at Westmount Park Elementary School, and at Place Kensington ( a nearby seniors' residence which happens to have a grand piano!) This local Interlink Choir was the inspiration of a local Westmount resident, Twinkle Rudberg.
Click on this image to see and hear the choir in action (it will take a few minutes to download, but be patient-it's worth it!). You need Real Player to see this video. If you do not have RealPlayer, follow this link to learn how to get it (it is free). If you cannot run RealVideo on your computer, but can run RealAudio, click here to listen to the choir. (Don't have RealAudio Player? click here to find out how to get it.)
Mrs. Rudberg heads up an organization called L.O.V.E. (an acronym for Leave Out Violence). From its beginnings in 1995, Ian Lebofsky has been the energetic choirmaster who brings everyone together in song. Contactivity members constitute the majority of senior members of the choir.
Interlink choirs follow guidelines set down by the founders of the movement. In Canada, the over-all project is endorsed and coordinated by the Canadian Mental Health Association, in recognition of the benefits to well-being which derive from such a creative meeting of the generations. For more information about Interlink Choirs, you can visit the website of the Canadian Mental Health Association by clicking here.
