Young@Heart, also Young@Heart Chorus, is an entertainment group created by and for the elderly, comprised at present of people at least 70 years of age. Some have prior professional theater or music experience, others have performed at amateur level, and some have no experience whatsoever. They are particularly noted for their unconventional covers of rock, punk, and other modern pop music songs. Founded in 1982 in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

, by Bob Cilman, the members all lived in an elderly housing project, The Walter Salvo House. The first group included elders who lived through both World Wars. One had fought in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

as a 16-year-old and another, Anna Main, a stand-up comic, lost her husband in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Main stayed with the group until she was 100 years old. Diamond Lillian Aubrey, who performed with the first two European tours, performed

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

's "

Doo Wah Diddy "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and originally recorded in 1963, as "Do-Wah-Diddy", by the American vocal group the Exciters. ''Cash Box'' described the Exciters' version as "a sparkling rocker that bubble ...

". In later years, she appeared "on stage" via video, performing the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' "

You Can't Always Get What You Want "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1969 album '' Let It Bleed''. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by ''Rolling Sto ...

". In early 1984, Warren Clark, Ralph Intorcio, and Eileen Hall joined the Chorus. Warren and Ralph did female impersonations (Warren took on the persona of

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was a Russian-born American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popula ...

, and Ralph did a send-up of

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Each of her characters typically possessed a fervent expressiveness and an easily ide ...

's "

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a jazz song written for the stage musical '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1949), with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin. Carol Channing introduced the song in the original Broadway production, an ...

"), while Eileen, originally from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, brought an array of different routines, including strip, mime, and the song "Nobody Loves a Fairy When She's...Ninety". The group joined with a group of Latino breakdancers from a local housing project, resulting in ''Boola Bimini Bop'', the first of many collaborations created with different arts groups in town. A few others included: ''Oh No a Condo'' (1988) with Cambodian folk artists and punk rockers; ''Louis Lou I – A Revolting Musical'' (1991), a re-telling of the French Revolution using

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

's songs; and ''Flaming Saddles'' (1994) with the Pioneer Valley Gay Men's Chorus. In 1996, the Young@Heart Chorus performed in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, and they did twelve more tours in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

between 1997 and 2004. The first

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the Chorus, ''Forever Young at Heart'', premiered at the Northampton Film Festival in

—the group's hometown—in 2000. Produced by Barbara Allen of Wildrose Productions, the film chronicled the early years of Young@Heart. Another documentary film about the Chorus appeared on Britain's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 2007. A feature-length version of this documentary was released theatrically in April 2008 by

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

. Group member Fred Knittle, who sang

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

's "

Fix You "Fix You" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third studio album, '' X&Y'' (2005). It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from ''X&Y'' and reached number 4 on the ...

" in the film and was a frequent source of comic relief, died on January 1, 2009, after a short battle with cancer. He was 83. Bob Cilman is still the director of the Chorus. His two daughters, Stella and Eva Cilman, attended

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

and live in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young at Heart American vocal groups Musical groups from Massachusetts