OVER 40 YEARS in AND STILL GOING STRONG
Who is Young@Heart? What started out in 1982 at a Western Massachusetts elderly housing project to joyfully pass the time instead of passing before your time has developed into the stereotype-defying, generation-crossing musical extravaganza better known as the Young@Heart Chorus.
The Young@Heart performs at its first public concert in 1982 at the Walter Salvo House.
From The New York Times to TIME, The Ellen Show to The Daily Show and stars of the hit Fox Searchlight documentary, Young@Heart, this group of seniors, ranging in age from 75-94, has performed from Northampton to New Zealand, Europe to Japan, on over 55 tours around the world proving it’s “possible to grow old without growing boring.”
“If your faith in humanity is flagging, this is the perfect tonic.”
In collaboration with No Theater, Young@Heart has performed in the trilogy of theater shows — Road to Heaven, Road to Nowhere, and End of the Road — at The R Festival in Rotterdam, Manchester International Festival, London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), Zurich Theater Spektakel, Spielzeit Europa in Berlin, Dublin Theater Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, and the National Theater in Oslo, Norway.
A publicity photo of the group in 2007 in the lead up to the theatrical release of the film.
The Chorus has also performed its concerts “Alive and Well”, “This is Getting Old”, and "Welcome to Your Life" at venues around the world including the Royal Carré Theatre, Amsterdam; Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Place des Arts, Montreal; Wilshire Theater, Los Angeles; Capitol Theatre, Salt Lake City; Paramount Theater, Denver; Beacon Theatre, New York; Warner Theater, Washington, DC; Orchard Hall, Bunkamara Theatre, Tokyo; Civic Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand, and at the Newport Folk Festival.
“Deeply moving, sometimes hilarious, and always wonderful.”
The Walker George documentary Young@Heart, originally broadcast on Channel 4 television in the UK, won two Rose d’Or awards, the LA Film Festival Audience Award, screened at Sundance and SXSW Festival before it was released in the U.S. and Canada by Fox Searchlight.
At a rehearsal circa 2005. Photo by Asia Kepka.
The film has since been released in the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, and Japan, winning the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival, the Paris Cinema International Film Festival, Ghent Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Bergen International Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival, among others.
“The floors will thud. The walls will shake. The innards of that old piano will take a licking they’ll never forget. The Young@Heart Chorus is warming up.”
Legendary Young@Heart singer Diamond Lil in the Chorus’ 1991 show “Louis Lou I”. Photo by Ellen Augarten.