For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest."
--Hasidic saying
Founded in October, 2007, the mission of We Bring the Music (formerly Nursing Homes Swing) is to bring joyful noises to quiet lives. We bring live concerts, performed by local professional musicians, to residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and adult care facilities in Albemarle County, VA. We now serve twelve facilities for the elderly once a month each. These concerts benefit both the residents and the performing musicians by increasing social interaction for the elderly and providing a venue for the musicians to hone their skills and heighten their awareness of the conditions of the confined. Our goal is to add more venues to the circuit.
Some of the area's finest musicians provide the music that brings joyous sounds to quiet lives. We are a non-profit organization and support comes from grants (BAMAWorks and the Better Living Foundation) and donations with 95% of fund raising proceeds going to pay the musicians.
Some NHS Facts:
Yearly budget is a shoestring! It’s totally used up each year.
Most money raised goes to the musicians, as NHS is run by volunteers.
It’s a pittance! But it keeps musicians coming back.
We have more musicians than ever participating in this program, and had more than 2500 attendees total at over 90 performances this past year.
NHS is the brainchild of Jackie and Bob Hostage, who started NHS in 2007. Bob passed away in summer 2013 and Jackie in 2019, but a small staff continues to keep the program going.
Meet our team:
Mary Beth Revak, lead singer for ACME Swing Mfg. Co. and NHS Chair, handles the programming of all the events.
Victor Lee, a retired physician and NHS board member-at-large, has played for NHS for many years and continues to play in a volunteer capacity at many NHS events in support of several other NHS bands and music sessions as well as his own Jazz Connection Band. He also assists with preparation of the NHS Newsletter.
NHS Board Secretary Lynn Pribus is a retired musician and freelance writer. Her group, Lulu & Friends, formerly entertained for NHS. She is a member of the Charlottesville Women's Choir, the Charlottesville Threshold Singers, and P.E.O. which provides educational loans and grants to women.
Vivian Stein, NHS treasurer, has a small accounting practice and a love for choral music.
Bob DuCharme, bassist and technical writer at Katana Graph, has performed in many We Bring the Music gigs. Bob is our webmaster.
Venues served include
Betty J. Queen Center, Cedars Healthcare Center, Charlottesville Health & Rehab., Charlottesville Pointe, Heritage Inn, JABA Day Care Center, Laurels, Lodge at Old Trail, Mary Williams Center, Morningside, Mountainside, Our Lady of Peace, Rosewood Village/Greenbrier, Rosewood Village/Hollymead.