CCM, Twin Towers Team Up to Bring Live Music to Seniors Community

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and the

Twin Towers Senior Living Community

have announced the creation of a new artist-in-residence program, which will bring live music to the Twin Towers community and free housing to two CCM graduate students.

Through this new partnership, a pair of CCM student artists will reside on one of Twin Towers’ campuses for the duration of their degree programs. In return, these students will perform one recital per month and allow the community’s citizens unprecedented interaction through discussions and open rehearsals.

The program’s inaugural artists-in-residence are soprano

Annie Barr

and collaborative pianist

Alyssa Griffith

, both of whom are first-year Master of Music students at CCM.

According to

CCM Dean Peter Landgren

, this new partnership is a natural extension of the college’s ongoing community engagement activities throughout Greater Cincinnati.

“An important part of CCM’s responsibility as a training ground for the performing and media arts is to provide aspiring artists with opportunities to interact with and give back to their communities,” he says. “Our new partnership with Twin Towers has already given CCM a tremendous tool to recruit the best students and provide them with resources that can lessen the financial burden of graduate school. This partnership will also provide our students with an opportunity to engage with and learn from the residents of Twin Towers. We hope the Twin Towers community will find this collaboration equally enriching and artistically rewarding.”

The benefits of this new partnership are equally noteworthy for

Twin Towers Executive Director Jim Lay

. He explains, “For our residents, this is an opportunity for a meaningful relationship with talented and inspirational young people who aspire to reach lifelong goals. For the artists themselves, it is a chance for Twin Towers to help make their path toward those goals a bit easier while also opening doors to new and supportive relationships as they seek to fulfill their career dreams. This is a perfect marriage of opportunity and inspiration for all involved.”

Perhaps no one has better insight into the value of this program than

Miriam Allbee

, a marketing specialist for Twin Towers who also happens to be a CCM alumna.

“I can only imagine what a boon it would have been had I been afforded an opportunity like this when I was a young graduate student,” she says. “The nurturing environment and supportive community at Twin Towers will allow these young artists to develop their considerable gifts, and their many new ‘grandparents’ will have the pleasure of watching their very own protégés embark upon their professional musical careers. I am so proud to have been involved in the inception and development of this project and look forward to seeing it grow and develop into the future.”

Artists-in-residence Annie Barr and Alyssa Griffith will perform monthly concerts throughout the Twin Towers’ campus during their residency. The duo’s next performance is scheduled for

6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11

, in Twin Towers’ Gulden Center. You can learn more about their upcoming performances by visiting

www.lec.org

.

Tune in to WVXU 91.7 FM's Cincinnati Edition at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, to hear Barr, Landgren and Lay discuss this new program with host Mark Heyne. You can stream the program online at wvxu.org/programs/cincinnati-edition

.

About Annie Barr

Soprano Annie Barr is a first-year Master of Music in Vocal Performance candidate at CCM, where she studies with Professor Tom Baresel. A native of Buffalo, New York, she received her Bachelor of Music from CCM in 2015. While at CCM, Barr performed in

Serse

,

The Marriage of Figaro

and sang the role of La Princesse in Ravel’s

L’enfant et les sortileges

. She performed the title role in CCM’s spring 2015 undergraduate opera production of Handel’s

Alcina

under the direction of Professors Kenneth Shaw and Amy Johnson. She has been a member of the CCM Chamber Choir under the direction of Professor Earl Rivers.

In addition to her performance credits, Barr has been very involved within the student body of CCM. She has served as the President of CCM Tribunal and as Vice President of Sigma Alpha Iota, Professional Women’s Music Fraternity. This year, she received the Spirit of Cincinnati award from CCM for her contribution to the CCM and Cincinnati community. She is a scholar with the 3Arts Women’s Club of Cincinnati, as well as the choral scholar at Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church.

About Alyssa Griffith

Pianist Alyssa Griffith is native to the Midwest, studying in rural Illinois throughout high school. A collaborative pianist and private piano teacher, she recently completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Keyboard Pedagogy at Cedarville University, a private liberal arts school in Southwestern Ohio. She received several recognitions at Cedarville, including the Soli Deo Gloria Scholarship, the Love Pedagogy Scholarship and the Clevenger Piano Award. Griffith also won the University’s Concerto Competition and was able to perform the Grieg Piano Concerto with the University Orchestra.

Griffith has 16 years of experience studying piano and has also operated a private teaching business for several years. She spends her time accompanying, teaching private lessons, working as a camp counselor, and singing and playing for church. Griffith spent the summer of 2014 working as a Collaborative Pianist at Interlochen Arts Camp, accompanying the high school production of

Les

Misérables

. She is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano performance CCM, where she received an assistantship position accompanying vocalists.

About the Twin Towers Senior Living Community

Located on Hamilton Avenue between Cincinnati’s Northside and College Hill neighborhoods, Twin Towers is committed to enhancing adult lifestyles through a philosophy of whole-person wellness. Specializing in both residential and assisted living, the community consists of patio and apartment homes throughout their Towers, Greeno, North and Parkview areas. Twin Towers provides a full neighborhood experience including an extensive dining area, full gym and pool, and multiple other locations for residents to meet, interact and partake in the arts.

Twin Towers is owned and operated by Loveland-based Life Enriching Communities, Inc. (LEC), a private not-for-profit corporation, offering an integrated family of lifestyle communities and senior living services in greater Cincinnati. Best known for their Twin Towers and Twin Lakes senior living communities, they deliver exceptional everyday experiences to everyone they serve. With a focus on quality living options and healthcare services, and a commitment to whole-person wellness, LEC has become one of the area’s leading senior living providers. Life Enriching Communities is affiliated with the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church and welcomes people of all faiths. For more information, please visit

www.lec.org

.