By Michael LaGamma
At the May 15th meeting of the Retired Men’s Association, Peter Uhry introduced The Grace Notes. The Grace Notes is an all-female a cappella group based in Greenwich, that has been entertaining and serving the community through song for nearly 60 years. Its focus is on bringing music to people at senior residential homes, adult day centers, and Alzheimer’s/dementia facilities, as well as at town events and community festivals, libraries and schools as part of a wider mission to connect and bring people together through music.
The group was formed in 1967 as part of the Junior League of Greenwich and became an independent, non-profit organization officially titled “The Therapeutical Music Organization” in 1972, changing to “The Grace Notes” in 1995. The members are women who stem from different backgrounds but are united by their personal love of singing and mutual desire to give back to the community. Dr. Eric Martin has been Music Director since 2008.
All members are volunteers. Every member dedicates over 90 hours of rehearsal time during the September through May season, plus time spent at home learning and memorizing the music. They are out singing in the community at least two days a month, often performing for two venues back-to-back. Every member went through a stringent audition process to be accepted into the group.
Members are teachers, authors, artists, business owners, homemakers, working and retired executives, who each have a background in music and singing through school/college and church choirs, community theater, music degrees and training, professional singing and more. The group has ranged in size from small to large, with eight members at some times, to more than 30 during the 1980s when fewer women were working full-time. There are currently nine performing members with two more who joined this spring. Two members have been singing in The Grace Notes for over 30 years!
The following singers performed at the RMA event:
Jennifer Andrews
Claire Cohen
Robin Edelston
Anne Marcus
Maggie McGirr
Laura Pavlovich
Katie Stallard
Hannah Tsatsonis
Judy Gilmartin Willsey
They treated the audience to a compilation of songs including:
1. You Make Me Feel So Young
2. Dream a Little Dream of Me
3. Making Whoopee
4. Big Yellow Taxi
5. Embraceable You
6. I’ve Got Rhythm
7. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
8. The Beatles Medley
9. Sway
10. Happy Together
The group was then asked for an encore performance which was a rousing rendition of “Sisters.”
In the Q&A session that followed, the Grace Notes revealed that although they usually perform in four-part harmony, occasionally they go to as many as six parts. They perform twice a month, sometimes more, and have also provided quartets to sing to the homebound and their caregivers. They are a purely community and service group, and do not participate in competitions. Although they currently have eleven members, they would like to grow a bit larger to be able to handle situations of illness or scheduling conflicts. They recruit by word of mouth. Prospective members are asked to learn two arrangements and are given two weeks to prepare for an audition for the group. For more information about The Grace Notes, visit their website: http://www.thegracenotes.com/
The talk can be viewed by going to the RMA website at https://greenwichrma.org, and clicking on “Speakers.”
The RMA’s upcoming presentation, “Getting Schooled on Baseball’s Greatest Rivalries,” by Kelley Franco Thropp, is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Springtime means baseball, and baseball means rivalries. Kelley Franco invites you to enjoy a one-hour crash course on baseball’s greatest rivalries. We will discuss Levels 101, 201, 301, and 401 of the fiercest clashes in the game. There will be trivia and chances to show off your baseball acumen. We will cover the well-known rivalries – Yankees/Red Sox and Dodgers/Giants, but we will also dig deep into other matchups including Cubs/Cardinals, Ted Williams/Joe DiMaggio, and some off-the-field surprises. Both casual and serious baseball fans will enjoy this engaging presentation.
Kelley Franco is a baseball media entrepreneur and her company is Three Inning Fan LLC. She hosts her own baseball podcast, “A Date in October with KFT.” She has been a guest lecturer at the Baseball Hall of Fame and a baseball contributor on CNN’s Financial Network. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @threeinningfan to catch her “Three Inning Minute” videos, which feature snippets about the legal, transactional, and nostalgic side of baseball in one minute each. Her webpage is www.threeinningfan.com. By day, Kelley is a practicing attorney in New Canaan, Connecticut at her firm, Franco and Associates.
To stream the presentation by Kelley Franco Thropp at 11 AM on Wednesday, May 29, click on https://bit.ly/30IBj21. This presentation will also be available on local public access TV channels, Verizon FIOS channel 24 and Optimum (Cablevision) channel 79.
Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. Any member of the public who would like to receive a weekly email announcement of future speakers should send a request to members@greenwichrma.org. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact members@greenwichrma.org.
