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Elders Share Memories In "Lifesongs"

www.aloveoflearning.org/programs/lifesongs

Months of creative collaboration between local artists and the elderly culminate in a musical performance, Dancing By Moonlight, on May 9th at the Lensic Center in Santa Fe.  Since 2007, the Lifesongs program has been working with patients in local care centers and hospices to document the voices of our elders and their insights gained at the end of life.  Originally created as an outreach program of the Santa Fe Opera, Lifesongs is now produced by The Academy for the Love of Learning and Littleglobe.  Co-Founder and Director Acushla Bastible says that "creative exchange" is the foundation of the Lifesongs process.

In this longer version of the conversation, Acushla talks about the performing partners for the May 9th concert and her plans for a creative toolkit that will share the Lifesongs technique with communities around the country.

20150502LifesongsLongVersion.mp3

Two songs from the upcoming Lifesongs program, "Dancing by Moonlight" and  "Over the Mountain," both written by Lifesongs resident artists in collaboration with participant elders.

lifesongs_dancing_by_moonlight.mp3

LifesongsOverTheMountainMaster.mp3

Spencer Beckwith reports on the arts for KUNM. For ten years, until March of 2014, Spencer was the producer and host of KUNM's "Performance New Mexico," a weekday morning arts program that included interviews with musicians, writers and performers. Spencer is a graduate of the acting program at the Juilliard School, and, before moving to New Mexico in 2002, was for many years a professional actor based in New York City.