Student musicians and Madrigal singers from Yorkville High School joined the Alyssa Alvin Foundation for Hope (AAFH) at the Ronald McDonald House near Loyola Medical Center to entertain patients and their families with the healing power of music on Monday, November 12, 2018.
The Yorkville Madrigals were led by David Smith, their Music Director, and this event was planned by Huntar Jones, a former member of the Yorkville High School music group and a regular AAFH volunteer herself. The 35 musicians not only drove over 90 minutes to get thru rush hour traffic to the performance, but they also donated their own time to practice in preparation for this music night.
They were met by AAFH President- Yoli Alvin and volunteer-Huntar Jones, as well as several families including children ranging from toddlers to teens. During the 1-hour performance, all ages sat in rapt attention at the beautiful music created by the strings of the musicians and the voices of the singers dressed in Renaissance period attire.
As we mingled with the young audience members before and after the show, we were impressed with the attention and appreciation they gave to the musicians. In talking with them about their physical conditions, we were moved by the fact that we took them away from their own health challenges at least for the duration of the performance. We could see in their faces and hear in their applause that the patients and their family members were free from pain, discomfort and stress while being moved by this beautiful music.
Thank you so much to the student-musicians and Madrigal singers, their leaders, David and Huntar, our volunteers and all of you for making evenings like this possible in Alyssa’s memory!
