 | Yale College junior Kristin Kovner |
Yale College junior Kristin Kovner will never forget the time an elderly man with Alzheimer's disease who was generally unresponsive immediately brightened up when she started singing "As Time Goes By," the 1930s classic that became the trademark tune of the film "Casablanca."
Kovner was then a high school student volunteering during the summer at the Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation's (LIAF) Memory Lane Club, a day program for those with dementia. Inspired by reports about the benefits of music for Alzheimer's patients, Kovner initiated a music therapy program for club participants. She began by leading a sing-along, with little expectation that the man -- who hadn't spoken coherently in several weeks -- would join in.
To Kovner's surprise, the man "just came to life" when he heard "As Time Goes By" and began singing along joyfully, she says.
"It was like a magical transformation," recalls Kovner. "I knew that research has shown that people with Alzheimer's often respond well to music and remember lyrics to songs, but I didn't expect to see someone who had been so uncommunicative just light up in that way. It was wonderful to see how he and others in the group reacted to the music."
After leaving her volunteer job, Kovner -- a singer, pianist and flutist -- decided there was one way she could help her former friends at the Memory Lane Club, as well as others who suffer from Alzheimer's: She began to save up money to make a CD of some of the American classics from the 1930s and 1940s that her clients had enjoyed so well.
A little less than a year ago, Kovner finally had enough money to undertake the project. She enlisted the help of former high school classmates Charles Geizhals, a jazz pianist, and Jeff Solomon, a saxophonist, who provided free accompaniment on the CD. Two studio musicians, bassist Mark Verdino and drummer Greg German, offered to perform on the CD for a reduced rate, and Kovner's former flute teacher, who owns a recording studio, gave the group a deal on studio fees.
During their three hours in the recording studio, Kovner and her friends recorded 14 songs that she thought could stir the memories of many Alzheimer's patients. In honor of her friends from the Memory Lane Club, she titled the CD "A Walk Down Memory Lane." It features such old-time favorites as George and Ira Gershwin's "I've Got a Crush on You" and "Someone to Watch Over Me"; Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" and "The Lady is a Tramp"; Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"; as well as "Sophisticated Lady," co-written by Duke Ellington.
All of the proceeds from the sale of the CD, which costs $15, benefit the LIAF, which assists Long Island Alzheimer's patients and their families.
"I produced the CD as inexpensively as I could," says the Yale student. "All of the songs, for example, are first takes, and a friend of my father took the photographs for the CD." The CD's cover features Kovner walking down a long, tree-lined lane in her hometown of Port Washington, Long Island, headquarters of the LIAF.
Kovner's costs in producing the CD included paying about $1,100 on licensing fees to record the copyrighted songs.
Once the CD was released, Kovner more than broke even on her investment just through sales to friends and family members. The CD is on the racks of Long Island record stores and is also available from the LIAF. Kovner also had a party at Yale to celebrate the CD's release and to interest her Yale peers in contributing to her cause.
Thus far, Kovner has raised about $4,000 to benefit the LIAF according to Eric Hall, chief executive officer of the foundation.
"What Kristin has done in a way that is not self-promoting is to take her gifts and use them for the good of this community," says Hall. "It shows the size and generosity of her heart. We are honored and grateful that she made us the beneficiary of her musical gifts."
Hall and others at the LIAF are impressed by the Yale student's devotion, he adds. "It's an incredible experience when you encounter someone like Kristin. To see the young reaching out to help older people is always an inspiration. So often in our society, we tend to forget about our aged."
Kovner, of Morse College, has loved music since childhood and began singing at coffee houses when she was 15. She enjoys playing jazz piano tunes and performed in musicals while in high school. At Yale, she takes voice lessons for credit at the School of Music and is a coordinator for Instrumental Connections, an undergraduate organization dedicated to bringing music to New Haven schoolchildren who otherwise could not afford private music lessons. She is a member of the a cappella singing group New Blue and has sung and performed on piano at New Haven's Koffee Too café.
"It gives me great joy to make music," says Kovner, who also serves as a features editor for the Yale Daily News.
While she is uncertain about future career plans, Kovner says that music and community service will certainly be a part of whatever she chooses. She also hopes to continue furthering an awareness of Alzheimer's disease, and is convinced that research now being done on the illness will contribute to a cure for it in her lifetime.
"It's a devastating disease and one that is very difficult for family members to watch in a loved one," she says. "It's like having to get to know all over again someone you've known for 40 or 50 years -- as a whole new person. It's very sad.
"If my CD can do any little amount to help I'm happy," she adds. "It's like Mother Theresa once said: We can do no great things, only small things with great love. I know it sounds cliched, but that's how I feel. My CD is a small contribution, but it's what I could do to help."
"A Walk Down Memory Lane" is available from the LIAF at 5 Channel Drive, Port Washington, N.Y. 11050 or by calling (866) 789-5423 (toll-free). It can also be purchased online at cdbaby.com or by making arrangements via e-mail with Kovner at kristin.kovner@yale.edu.
-- By Susan Gonzalez
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