New York Memory Center & Alzheimer’s Poetry Project Present
Memory Arts Café
Memory Arts Café is a new series of free art events for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, their caregivers and the general public and is co-produced by New York Memory Center and the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. The series, which takes place on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, includes light refreshments and the opportunity to chat with the guest artists.
This Memory Arts Café event features Jesse Neuman, musician and Founder and Director of MusicWorks NYC. Poet Gary Glazner will host the event.
Wednesday, October 10th, at 6:30 pm
New York Memory Center
199 14th Street at 4th Avenue • Brooklyn, NY 11215
(Take the R to Prospect Ave.)
For info: call (718) 499-7701 or visit alzpoetry.com
Jesse Neuman (trumpeter / improviser / composer / educator) has been an active member of New York City’s creative music scene since 1998. He has performed at notable venues such as Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Joe’s Pub, Birdland, Blue Note, Barbes, Zebulon, Knitting Factory, Celebrate Brooklyn, Highline Ballroom, Galapagos, and Bowery Ballroom. He has worked with a diverse collection of ensembles including silentZ (electric progressive jazz), Kaash (Hindustani electronica), Brooklyn Qawwali Party (devotional South Asian music), The Barbarians (funk soul jazz), Bobby Bare Jr. (southern indie rock) and Josh Ritter (singer songwriter).
Neuman, a career educator and professional musician, has developed the MUSICWORKS program to bring interactive arts experiences to students of all ages and ability levels senior citizens suffering from dementia, and children with special needs in NYC and abroad. He has presented to NYC public and private schools, to groups as varied as a half-dozen pre-schoolers, a 300-plus hall of elementary school students, and residential populations of at-risk teenagers. Mr. Neuman has also funded and presented two volunteer seminars in Quito, Ecuador, as well as programs in Guatemala. He holds a B.A. in music, an M.A. in education, has been a classroom educator for the past 10 years, and recently performed at Lincoln Center for 2,500 people. The MUSICWORKS program brings enthusiastic presentations and performances to young adults in school and camp settings. Geared to reach musicians and non-musicians alike, programs are carefully structured yet casually presented in a warm and interactive manner. Rather than focusing on the often overwhelming and intimidating mechanics of ‘musicianship’, these workshops de-mystify the structure and beauty of jazz, world, and improvised music. Teachers and live performers bridge the gap between abstraction and realization of the artistic experience. http://www.musicworksnyc.org/concept.html
About the producers:
Founded in 1983, the mission of New York Memory Center is to help older adults who have cognitive, physical, and emotional limitations, to maintain or improve their level of functioning so that they may enjoy their later years at home and within the community. Through an innovative wellness center, New York Memory Center meets the needs of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and related dementia disorders and their Caregivers. NYMC offers two primary programs: Lotus Club, an early intervention and support program for those experiencing the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s and related dementias; and Memory Life Services, a program which provides more extensive services suitable for adults in the community with middle to later stage memory loss. For additional information, please visit nymemorycenter.org.
Gary Glazner founded the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP) in 2004. The APP was awarded the 2012 MetLife Foundation Creativity and Aging in America Leadership Award in the category of Community Engagement. The National Endowment for the Arts listed the APP as a “best practice” for their Arts and Aging initiative. NBC’s “Today” show, NPR’s “All Things Considered” and Voice of America have featured segments on the APP.
