Our History

Music for Seniors launched July 1, 2007 as an arts program affiliate of FiftyForward, a long-standing and outstanding Nashville-based nonprofit recognized as the premier provider of innovative and comprehensive services for adults 50+ in Middle Tennessee. We will forever be grateful to Janet Jernigan, then FiftyForward’s Executive Director, and her staff. Believing in our vision, they offered Music for Seniors a solid foundation of nonprofit management skills, fiscal oversight and wise counsel, while also providing us immeasurable opportunities for widespread community exposure, funding and recognition.

After the first year, it was clear that our original model — the same musician returning to the same senior group for an extended six-month run — did not work in every setting. So we tweaked our service model to accommodate the many, varied senior groups and communities we serve, working individually with staff at each location. Exploring options together, we provide programs that are best suited to each particular group.

July 1, 2014 marked another beginning for Music for Seniors as we started operations under our own 501(c)3 IRS designation as a stand-alone nonprofit arts organization. Benefitting from the experience we gained over seven successful years, we moved forward with our exciting work with HQ at the Nashville Public Television arts complex, sharing space with a dynamic group of seasoned, professional creatives – Nashville’s Repertory Theater, Film Festival, Shakespeare Festival and others. This has provided unparalleled synergy and a robust exchange of ideas. Sharing a common goal to provide high quality arts programming, and often facing common struggles, the opportunities for learning and sharing information has been invaluable as Music for Seniors has grown.

In 2009 we launched the Music for Seniors FREE Daytime Concert Series. The challenges faced by many seniors often prohibit them from attending nighttime concerts the general public takes for granted. So we offer concerts where and when older adults can readily attend. Our community partners – other area arts and nonprofit organizations – provide venues and/or artists, helping us to produce a robust concert season March through December every year.

In 2012 we recorded the first Music for Seniors album, Music We All Love (From Classical To Swing And Everything In-Between!). It features some of our Musician Partners performing the range of styles presented in Outreach programs. The 2012 album was a collaboration with two sound engineering students at Belmont University School of Music who produced it as their required community service project.

Music for Seniors’ numbers have grown steadily over the years and now are burgeoning: a fact pointing to the significant demand for immersive live music programming tailored specifically to the tastes and needs of older adults.

We’ve now grown from a start-up program in 2007 (enlisting 3 musicians to deliver a monthly program to 2 senior centers) to a robust nonprofit organization poised for expansion.