Today we’d like to introduce you to Victor Tsao, Annie Wong and Vivian Zhang.
So, before we jump into specific questions about your organization, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Victor: I founded NoteWorthy Music Organization in 2018 after volunteering at a local senior center. Since I had already been playing piano and violin for ten years at that time, I decided to play some old familiar tunes for the residents. This generated a very positive reaction, with residents, even those who didn’t speak English, coming up to me afterwards to express their gratitude. The personal connections established through this experience really touched and inspired me, and I decided to take this a step further. Since then, along with vice-presidents Annie Wong and Vivian Zhang, we have been organizing live concerts at senior centers in the local area, including at Landmark of Plano and Sunrise Senior Living. NoteWorthy is now established as a volunteer organization connecting student performers with seniors in our local communities and around the world.
Annie: As a violinist for eight years, the arts have always been an important part of my life, and I saw in NoteWorthy the opportunity to share them with others; music is a universal language that can connect generations and people of diverse backgrounds. When we started NoteWorthy, I had been a longtime volunteer at Sunrise and I felt certain that our cause would resonate with senior citizens as a way to allow our peers to directly participate in the livelihood of our local nursing homes. It’s been an amazing experience, using our musicianship to positively impact the lives of others.
Vivian: I’ve had some prior experience performing at senior centers, and the genuine gratitude and appreciation that the senior community expressed each time was the absolute most rewarding part of performing. I think this type of sincerity is rare to find amidst our younger generations. I’ve also been playing violin for around 9 or 10 years, and NoteWorthy’s cause is the perfect way to use my music experience to serve one of the wisest, most genuine communities we have today.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Leading NoteWorthy Music Organization has been a rewarding experience, but it hasn’t come without its challenges. When COVID-19 hit in March, and we received notices from the centers where we usually performed that we would no longer be able to conduct live performances, we realized that the senior citizens, especially during these difficult times, needed support and comfort more than ever.
We started our virtual concert program series on YouTube to continue providing relief and encouragement through music during this hard time. We began by sending our concerts to senior centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area but soon expanded to other states and even other countries. Many senior centers and nursing homes reached out to us after hearing about NoteWorthy from other centers. Over 90 senior centers and nursing homes in 21 US States and eight countries around the world currently enjoy our concerts, released several times a month. We were overwhelmed and encouraged by the positive feedback we got.
One popular feature that has come with our virtual concert format is the opportunity for our audience members to directly request pieces to be performed by our member musicians. We have had requests from all over the world, including for Chinese pop songs from Singapore, for Frank Sinatra hits from New York, and for Elvis from Washington DC. We are happy to provide such a diverse array of music in our concerts not only for our audience but also as a performance opportunity for our members. It is wonderful to be able to provide such a personal touch in this virtual format. Our members and officers have adapted extremely well to challenges and strive to continue the innovation and positivity that NoteWorthy represents.
We’d love to hear more about NoteWorthy Music Organization.
The mission of NoteWorthy Music Organization is to share the power of music and the fine arts with members of the community, including elderly residents of senior centers, nursing homes and those living in rehabilitation centers, through live and virtual concerts. We are partnered with service organizations such as the National Honor Society to provide meaningful opportunities for community service for our members and musicians. Many senior citizens may feel isolated during these difficult times, and we hope to bring a personal touch to our audience.
We have partnered with over 90 senior centers and nursing homes from 21 states and territories in the US and 8 countries around the world to provide regular virtual concerts, composed of high-level performance videos sent in by our over 50 member musicians. Many of our regular performers are All-State musicians and some have even won national awards. Although NoteWorthy was established in Plano, the virtual format has enabled interested musicians from several states to contribute to the happiness and entertainment of our audience as well. Our musicians come from several states, including Texas, Wyoming, Indiana and Colorado, and play a multitude of different instruments. We have received wonderful audience feedback from locations as far away as Ireland and Singapore, and our virtual concerts reach an audience of several thousand senior citizens.
In addition, we provide opportunities for our student members to showcase their skills and gain performance experiences through music. We feature many of our member musicians in Feature Friday posts on our social media platforms to demonstrate their musicality and talent. The diversity of our music reflects the individuality of our musicians and audience members. NoteWorthy concerts incorporate many different musical instruments, including vocals, as well as music genres across time periods, such as classical, pop and jazz music. This ensures that there is something to be enjoyed by all.
If a reader would like to contribute to our cause and benefit our audience members, they are welcome to send in performance videos or recordings to www.tinyurl.com/nwconcerts. Any contributions will be greatly valued and appreciated.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Most of our member musicians have been playing music, whether instrumental or singing, for over six years, and music has become a part of our lives. This passion and dedication to music, along with openness to new ideas, has enabled NoteWorthy to grow and truly make a difference. Our members are happy to perform requested music for our senior center audiences, and many have recorded short video greetings for our video concerts wishing for the happiness and wellbeing of our audience. I would say that this compassion and empathy, combined with our dedication to music, has been the most important factor to our success.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.noteworthy-music.org
- Email: noteworthymusicorganization@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/noteworthyptx/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Noteworthy-Music-Organization-108180150854938/
- YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCFP5YViJjQqsV1wrBZHIQ1w
Image Credit:
Victor Tsao, Annie Wong, Vivian Zhang, C. Brockington
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