Generations Sing Together in Heart of Adelaide

More than 130 primary school students and 120 older people joined their voices in a unique concert in the heart of Adelaide earlier this month.

Supported by the Office for the Ageing, ACH Group’s Foundation for Older Australians and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, Sing Together was an intergenerational performance that aimed to bridge the gap between young and old through music.

Students from St Leonards, Ridgehaven and Redwood Park Primary Schools, the ACH Group Sing for Joy choirs at Seaford, Glenelg, Payneham and Wynn Vale and the Italian Chorale, led by opera singer Teresa La Rocca, took to the stage at the Freemasons Grand Hall on North Terrace on Wednesday to sing before an audience of 100 people.

They were joined by pianist Emma Knights under the direction of Musical Director Carol Young and MC Phyllis Skinner, 94, a legendary South Australian Vaudeville performer and personality. The shared repertoire included songs from the South Australian Primary Schools’ Festival of Music and included an Elvis medley, a mash-up version of ‘Que Sera Sera’ (the original mixed with Justice Crew’s 2014 version) and ‘Jai Ho’, the theme from the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Redwood Park Primary School Year 5 student Grace Gaunt says she and her friends enjoyed being part of the event.

“I thought it was really fun getting to know some of the people and singing with them,” she says. “The music was really good too.”

Her mother Bron Gaunt had watched students perform as part of the Festival of Music earlier this year and enjoyed seeing the generations come together.

“The sound was really rich and beautiful, with the older and younger voices together, it was very, very special,” she says.

“Everyone looked like they were having fun – it was just awesome.”

ACH Group Dementia Learning and Development Unit Senior Manager Lenore de la Perrelle says the aim of the concert was to develop intergenerational links between the choirs and schools through a combined interest in singing and performing.

“People love to sing, but when a big group of different people sing together, when different voices combine to sing the same songs, it really lifts the spirits,” she says.

“Singing is something that people can do together regardless of their background or their age. Everyone gets a buzz out of it.”

Sing for Joy community choirs are funded by The ACH Group Foundation for Older Australians and aim to help older people reconnect with singing and music.

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