Sponsored by AARP
Due to a generous sponsorship by AARP, Masterclasses are available for whatever you want to pay starting at $0. Attend for FREE, or if you would like to assign a value to this lifelong learning experience, chose one of the ($) admission tickets.
Participate on Zoom or Watch Later
Each of our 90-minute Masterclasses meet monthly on Zoom. You do not need to be a current Encore University student or Encore singer to enjoy these classes – Masterclass series can be enjoyed by all lifelong learners!
Registration is required for live participation for both types of Masterclasses.
Can’t make a Masterclass but want to hear the discussion? Recordings will be uploaded to this page and available to the public approximately one week after the Masterclass.
Arts, Health, & Research Masterclass
Encore University’s Research Masterclass series invites experts in various fields of creative aging and arts in health to share their research and perspectives on healthy aging. Registration is required for live participation.
Artistic Masterclass
Encore University’s Artistic Masterclass series explores dynamic and wide-ranging topics tailored for you! Take a deep dive into practical topics that you can use in your artistic journey, with the expertise of our renowned instructors and musicians. Registration is required for live participation.
April Masterclasses:
This month’s Arts, Health, & Research Masterclass is:
The Benefits of Music for Aging Adults and Brain Health
Monday, April 13, 7:30-9pm ET on Zoom
Registration is required for live participation.
Julene K Johnson, PhD, BM is a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics (School of Medicine). Her undergraduate degree is in music. Dr. Johnson has over 25 years of experience studying music, aging, and dementia. Her early studies focused on studying the preserved memory for familiar songs in older adults living with Alzheimer disease. In 2010, Julene was a Fulbright fellow where she studied the relationship between choir singing and well-being among older adults in Finland. After returning from Finland, she continued to focus on developing and testing music-based interventions to promote health and well-being among older adults with and without dementia. She was the principal investigator of the Community of Voices study that tested the effects of a community choir on the health and well-being of diverse racial/ethnic older adults. She currently leads the NIH-funded “Music & Dementia Research Network” and is a co-principal investigator for the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded AccelNet for Music, Movement, and Brain. She also leads the Meredith Willson Pilot Research Program for Music and Health Research, which awards pilot grants for music and health research across the lifespan. She also was the principal investigator of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) – funded Sound Health Network that aimed to increase awareness about the benefits of music.
Session Description:
This masterclass will take a deep dive into how and why music can be beneficial for adults as they age and support brain (and body) health and wellbeing. The session will explore how music engages multiple mind and body systems to promote health and wellbeing among older adults. Music can evoke emotions, and the ability to perceive emotional aspects of music begins in early childhood & develops throughout life. Music also engages our thinking abilities and can be a source of lifelong learning and engagement. Music and movement are often strongly linked, and music is a significant aspect of our culture, identity, and social constructs. Memory music can often be preserved in individuals who develop dementia, which provides opportunities for meaningful connections.
Registration is required for live participation.
This month’s Artistic Masterclass is:
Meet the Composer: Diana Sáez, Composer of “Temporal”
April 15, 4:00-6:00pm ET (In Person and Livestream)
at Grace Episcopal Undercroft Room
Registration is required for live participation.
Join us in person or via zoom to rehearse Temporal with the composer, Dr. Diana Sáez. She’ll teach us about the traditional plena from Puerto Rico and demonstrate how the elements of Spanish and African music have influenced “Temporal”.
Discover the music’s connection to Caribbean hurricanes and the resilience shown by the people of Puerto Rico. And get ready to sing and move to the incredible rhythmic intensity of Temporal.
Please bring your sheet music for Temporal.
This session will be available for attendance in person and via Zoom.
Join us to sing with the composer!
Dr. Diana V. Sáez is Director of Choral Activities at Towson University, where she conducts the University Chorale, Women’s Choir, and Choral Society. Previous posts include Visiting Choir Director at Knox College, Visiting Conductor at McDaniel College, six years directing the Catholic University Women’s Choir, and sixteen years as artistic director of the World Bank-IMF Chorus.
A leading specialist in Latin American choral music, Dr. Sáez is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator, and lecturer across the U.S. and abroad, with recent presentations at ACDA national and regional conventions and engagements throughout North and South America.
She is perhaps best known as founder and artistic director of Cantigas, an award-winning chamber choir dedicated to Latin American and Spanish choral music. For 25 years, Cantigas performed at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, and the ACDA Eastern Division Convention, and toured Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. The ensemble received the Choral Excellence Award for Most Creative Programming from the Choralis Foundation in 2014.
Dr. Sáez holds degrees from Temple University (MM), the University of Maryland (DMA), and Harvard University (MEd), and began her musical training at the Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her compositions are published by Hal Leonard, Boosey and Hawkes, and Lorenz/Roger Dean.
“In the coming years, I look forward to a choral community where there is no segregation between choruses and where we will embrace choruses of all sizes, styles, and genres. I look forward to when a gospel choir will be as celebrated as a choir performing Bach and to when most choirs will be flexible in tone, able to perform various styles of music with the same level of agility and quality. Most importantly, I look forward to when choirs will look as diverse as our society and all kinds of music will be celebrated and appreciated by all.”
Registration is required for live participation.
Upcoming Masterclasses:
| Arts, Health, & Research: Stroke Comeback Center | May 18, Time TBD |
| Artistic: Celebrate ROCKS! with Jeff Dokken | May 27, Time TBD |
| Arts, Health, & Research: AARP Global Brain Health with Juan Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, MS, AARP | June 15, Time TBD |
| Artistic: Percussion with Tom Teasley | June 24, Time TBD |
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