Young and Musical at Heart: Applewood’s New Music Suite for Elderly Residents

by Colleen Curry on March 12th, 2010 Comment

At the end of one of the long residents’ corridors in Applewood Estates—the CentraState-affiliated senior living center in Freehold Township—the sound of violins can be heard singing uncertainly from inside a resident apartment.

Fran Redlich, 91, of Applewood Estates, has been playing the flute since she was 50.

“We think the acoustics sound pretty good so far,” says Marjorie Stine, 81, a resident and the center’s band and chorus leader as she taps the piano keys. Stine and five others—three with violins, one with a flute, and one on mandolin—are having their first rehearsal in the new resident music suite.

For some, they are still learning the new instruments; for others, it is a return to a long-forgotten hobby.

“I played the violin in high school,” says Lois Spence, 87, “but I was borrowing it from a man who moved away. My husband always wanted to buy me another one, but I haven’t played since back then.”

In the back of the room, Ambrose Levan, an Applewood resident dressed in a three-piece green suit, stands watching the rehearsal. He points to an adjoining room, where a large mahogany organ rests against a wall.

Marjorie Stine, 81, leads her orchestra in Applewood Estate's new resident music suite.

“I refinished that recently,” he says mildly, and then points towards Marjorie. “And the piano.”

Levan is 98 years old, and a retired engineer.

“Music can be very beneficial for the residents,” explains Director of Marketing Lori Singer. “It can help with depression; it can stimulate brain activity. It really keeps people young.”

Singer explains that the music suite was the brainchild of Applewood’s director of housekeeping, who noticed an influx of instruments donated to the facility when residents moved in or died. A two-bedroom suite in the building’s east wing was then transformed into a music studio, complete with piano, organ, seating for at least 30, and a space the group hopes to transform into a piano studio.

Together, the musical group rehearsing on Friday afternoon consists of five residents and two outside students working their way through sheet music at Stine’s urging.

“Let’s try it again,” she says, looking over everyone’s finger placement. “1,2,3,4.”

Two students from outside the facility come each week to learn from Stine, who taught music in schools throughout New Jersey since 1951. Virginia Sena, of Farmingdale, took up the violin when her daughter began taking lessons so that they could play together, and Rochell Castelano, of Holmdel, decided to take up violin at age 58 as a hobby.

Both read about Stine’s musical group in the paper and decided to contact her for lessons; at one point, Stine’s group had 19 members of all ages that they called the “Intergenerational Orchestra.”

Now, with the addition of the music suite, residents at Applewood can take up an instrument whenever they feel inspired, Stine says, without having to worry about being embarrassed at skill level or concerned about disturbing the neighbors.

“Many people here play instruments, but had to leave pianos at home when the moved in, or feel embarrassed to be practicing or singing in their rooms,” Levan agreed.

For Stine, who also played bass in the Monmouth County orchestra before moving to Applewood, she is just happy to have a space just for music.

“I’m just happy people will have a place to play,” she says. “It’s good for the brain and body.”