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New Horizons Articles and Press Releases
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Retired Players Get a Tuneup
Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oregon
Story be Nancy Raskauskas
February 11, 2010 -
Adults Find Joy in Childhood Instruments
FOX 26 TV, Houston, Texas
Story by Greg Groogan
December 14, 2009 -
USC Gives Older Musicians Chance to Band Together
The State, Columbia, South Carolina
Story by Dawn Hinshaw
December 4, 2009 -
Press Release - The NAMM Foundation Awards New Horizons International Music Association, Inc. (NHIMA) Grant to Support Phase II Lift Off New Horizons Music Programs
Rochester, New York
June 20, 2009 -
Retirement - Rekindling the Creative Spark as You Age
Newsweek Showcase Archives
June 17, 2009
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Music Making Turns Out to Be a HitThe more than 60 members of the Iowa City New Horizons Band have discovered a creative form of play in making music together. Since 1995, the band has provided an opportunity for adults 50 and older to learn or continue to play musical instruments.
Band leader Don Coffman, Ph.D., comments, “New Horizon Band members taught me that having fun and never losing sight of fostering social relationships are as important as making music.” Two times a week, band members meet at a local senior center to rehearse for a performance and concentrate on learning to play better.
Coffman is a professor of music education at The University of Iowa. Student teachers from the university provide additional support and motivation for band members, who thrive on the encouragement of younger professionals.
Coffman has also organized several intergenerational band concerts with players ranging from elementary school students to seniors. “Music is timeless,” observes a French horn musician. “We don't think about age, we just make good music together.”
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Seniors Get Back to the Beat
The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina
Story by Thomas Goldsmith
May 16, 2009 -
Duke New Horizons Band Hosts “Spring Fling”
Duke Today, Duke University, North Carolina
Story by Stuart Wells
May 6, 2009 -
Two for the Price of One
The Telegraph, Goodfrey, Illinois
Story by Vicki Bennington
April 16, 2009 -
New Horizons - Retired Local Coach Trades Whistles for Woodwinds
The Observer, Dunkirk, New York
March 18, 2009 -
A Conversation with the New Horizons Band (of Summit and Stark Counties)
Arts Quest
February 2009
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Band Gives Older Adults a Chance to Learn the Joys of Playing an Instrument
The Reno Gazette-Journal, Reno, Nevada
Story by Forrest Hartman
February 3, 2009 -
Program Offers New Horizons Music for Music Lovers
The Sentinel, Woodbridge, New Jersey
Story by Kathy Chang
January 28, 2009 -
Learning Music Not Just For Youngsters
The Toronto Star
Story by Judy Steed, Video (Pictures) by Bernard Weil
November 13, 2008 -
New Horizons Band Interview
88.5 WFDD
NPR News and Triad Arts Stations
Wake Forest University
July 16, 2008
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New Horizons Ensemble Unveils New Work in Tribute to Late Leader, Ed Mizma
Rochester New Horizons Band at the Eastman Community Music School
In Concert, May 27, 2008
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The New Horizons Band at the Eastman Community Music School will premiere a new work in memory of the group’s former leader, Edward Mizma, during a concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, in Eastman Theatre. Titled “Moments of Glory,” the work was commissioned by the ensemble and The Commission Project, a nationally recognized program that sponsors composers-in-residence, with support from the New York State Music Fund.“Moments of Glory” was written by Howard Rowe, a retired Rush-Henrietta School District Music teacher and a composer and arranger of works for jazz band, concert band, strings, and chamber ensembles. Rowe began his residency with the New Horizons Band last November, initially talking with band members and leaders and Deborah Mizma, Mr. Mizma’s widow, to draw insights about Mr. Mizma for a composition that would reflect his involvement with both sacred and secular music as well as his zest for life. Rehearsals started in early January on the first draft of the score, which Rowe has revised over subsequent months. The music was composed at the intermediate level so that it would be accessible to more ensembles including developing New Horizons bands.
“The New Horizons commission to honor Ed Mizma has provided me some challenges and a wonderful opportunity as well,” said Rowe. “First, the task was to create music that would evoke memories of Ed for all the participating musicians as well as their audiences, plus, that objective had to be accomplished within parameters concerning length, range, instrumentation, and others. Just as important, the project gave me the opportunity to meet and work with a great group of people. I have found this process to be immensely gratifying.”
Mr. Mizma directed the New Horizons Band from 1992 until his sudden death in July, 2007, at the age of 73. He earned his bachelor and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Bucknell University and Cornell University, respectively. During his long career with Kodak, he pursued his avocation with a passion, leading the Rochester Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, the choir at Hilton Baptist Church, the Hilton Gazebo town band, and several other church and community choirs, including the New Horizons Choir.
Prior to his retirement, Mr. Mizma took music courses at the Eastman School of Music. Later, he enrolled formally and received his master’s degree in music education in 1993. At Eastman, Mr. Mizma took classes with Roy Ernst, who founded New Horizons, an adult music education program. Mr. Mizma joined the New Horizons Band and took over more responsibility in directing the program in Rochester as it grew.
In Rochester, New Horizons is sponsored by the Eastman Community Music School of the Eastman School of Music. The program has been widely adopted by more than 100 organizations in the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Locally, weekly rehearsals are held at the First Unitarian Church, 220 Winton Road. More information is available from the Eastman Community Music School, 585-274-1400, or online at [www.esm.rochester.edu/community].
The Commission Project was founded by musician and educator Ned Corman to foster creativity by commissioning music for ensembles and bringing musicians into close contact with composers to see the creative process at work.
The May 27 program by the New Horizons Band is part of Eastman Community Music School Festival Week. Other New Horizons concerts occurring during Festival Week are: the New Horizons Orchestra, Wednesday, May 28, 7 p.m., Eastman Theatre; the New Horizons Green Band, Green Strings, and Chorus, Thursday, May 29, 2:30 p.m., Kilbourn Hall; the Brasso Profundo and the New Horizons Big Band, Friday, May 29, 7 p.m., Kilbourn Hall; and the Evening of Ensembles, featuring chamber music, Monday, June 2, 7 p.m., Kilbourn Hall. All concerts are free and are open to the public.
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Retirement is Great Time to Strike Up the Band
Lisa Jo Rudy, CNN.com/Living
February 22, 2008 -
An Encore for Seasoned Musicians: Band Program Gives Older Players the Chance to Entertain Once Again
Bob Andres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
August 12, 2007
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Ron Taylor, 76, said joining the Roswell New Horizons band was the best thing he has ever done.“I stopped playing when I got out of the Army,” he said. “I put my horn away for almost 50 years, and regret that it took me so long to start playing again. It's brought a purpose to my life that I didn't have before. I found it was something that I terribly missed.”
The New Horizons International Music Association (www.newhorizonsmusic.org) is a nonprofit organization that promotes music programs for players more than 50 years old. There are about 140 New Horizons bands nationwide, including local programs in Roswell, Marietta, Sandy Springs and Rome.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for senior citizens to play their instruments again,” said Bob Martin, director of the Roswell New Horizons bands. “We have several folks in our band that are pushing 90 years of age, and it’s very exciting to see them enjoy the process of making music once again.”
The Roswell program is popular, with a full concert band, two jazz bands, an intermediate band and some smaller ensembles. They have been invited to perform in January at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference in Savannah. They also host a weeklong jazz camp at Unicoi State Park and Lodge near Helen each spring that has been growing in popularity.
“I’ve been out of the school teaching business for several years now, and I’m having more fun doing this than I ever did teaching school,” Martin said.
He spends all day Thursday rehearsing with the multiple Roswell bands, and keeps a busy schedule of performances. The concert band has two performances scheduled this month, at Northminster Presbyterian Church on Saturday, and Alpharetta First United Methodist Church on Aug. 21.
Bud Boden, 78, said playing in the Roswell bands makes him enjoy living more.
“I joined the band, reluctantly,” he said. “They practically dragged me in because they needed trumpet players. I was scared to death. I loved it. I couldn't let it go. But when the swing bands came along, I really turned on. I just can't get enough of the swing. It makes me feel young. Maybe I'm kidding myself, but I'm living longer because of it.”
John Lauer, like many of the members, plays in the jazz band and the concert band. “I put my horn away when I got out of the service and didn’t play for 40 years, and then came back and played with this group,” he said. “I’m 75 years old now, and I look forward to Thursdays; they’re the best day of the week.”
For Taylor, it's more than just the music.
“It adds something to the life, as well as the lives of the people we perform for,” he said. “The New Horizons band is probably a great stimulus for good health, mental and physical. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful time and I hope it goes on forever.”
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Adults Buck Conventional Wisdom to Play Musical Instruments
Gail Wein, National Public Radio
July 3, 2006 -
New Horizons Band, “Take 5! Grand Rapids News”
WZZM-TV(ABC), Grand Rapids, MI, 4/21/05 (03:36)
Giles Communications LLC Multimedia Services Division
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New Horizons Band Camp in Olympia, Washington (July 12-16, 2005)
Making Music Magazine
March/April 2005 -
Beat Goes On, For All Ages
Lolly Bowean, Chicago Tribune Staff Reporter
February 11, 2005
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In this band, seniors are learning to play instruments and students are learning to teach.When George Blinick joined the North Shore New Horizons Band nine years ago, he was 69 and had never picked up a musical instrument.
And because of arthritis in his hands, most days he still can't hold his heavy baritone saxophone.
Blinick, a retired pharmacist from Prospect Heights, doesn't let his ailment stop him. He props the silver sax on a stand and lets the melodies transport him.
He is just one of dozens of seniors who have decided to take up an instrument later in life through an innovative program that pairs them with Northwestern University students training to become music teachers.
“I tell people they had to tell me which end of the horn to blow into,” said Blinick, 78. “I grew up in the Depression, and my father couldn't afford music lessons. But I always wanted to play.”
Sally Bowers founded the North Shore group nine years ago while working as a music instructor at the Music Institute of Chicago.
Dozens of New Horizons Bands, including several in Illinois, have formed across the country since 1990 when Roy Ernst, a music educator from New York, hit on the idea. The concept gives adults over 50 who couldn't master an instrument in their early years a chance to try again.
“I just went nuts over it,” Bowers said. “It was so different and it was cutting edge.”
Each week, the band reports to Northwestern to take lessons from music students working on their teaching skills. It's a way to let the two generations mingle to learn music.
“It's a class where students basically learn how to be public school band teachers,” said Maud Hickey, an associate professor of music education who coordinates the band lab. But unlike in a real classroom setting, band members are more willing to speak up and give feedback and encouragement.
“The students can practice their skills on this very friendly group,” Hickey said.
According to experts, Blinick and other band members are doing more than just mastering a new craft and keeping busy in retirement; they're also adding to the quality, and perhaps the longevity, of their lives.
“Seniors need to reinvent themselves, and when they do that they need to find activities that will let them express themselves, meet other people, give back to society,” said Celia Berdes, a sociologist with the Buehler Center on Aging at Northwestern. “And a band does all of that.”
Gene Cohen, the director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., has spent a year studying how music affects the elderly.
Seniors who participate in arts programs are healthier, take less medication and are in better spirits, he said.
“It's the type of activity that keeps a person engaged,” he said. “They come back every week and they rehearse and have concerts. So it's a sustaining activity.”
Cohen said that based on his studies, there is a growing demand for arts-based programs for seniors, especially those involving music.
“Today's group of persons from 65 and older are better educated and healthier than ever before,” he said. “They are life-long learners. In those circumstances, [they] are looking for stimulation.”
Bowers started her group by asking people she knew if they wanted to learn to play in a band. “We put a lot of old instruments that were on the shelf back into good use,” she said.
There are more than 50 people in the group, drawn from all over the Chicago area. Most of them play and read music at a middle school level.
Bowers begins with baby steps. She helps students decide what instrument they want to learn, and they practice blowing and trying to make sounds.
The students start in small group sessions where Bowers teaches them how to read music. As they improve, they sit in with the full band and eventually start playing with the more advanced group.
The students start in small group sessions where Bowers teaches them how to read music. As they improve, they sit in with the full band and eventually start playing with the more advanced group.
But the musicians are learning more than just notes and rhythms, Bowers said. They are also overcoming adversities.
“When I look at my people and the limitations they have, I am humbled that they do what they do,” she said. “Some of them play with arthritis, with limited breathing capacity and sight problems. It takes a lot of energy to play. They are doing something wonderful for their mind and spirit.”
At a recent rehearsal, Kingsley Tang, 22, stood grinning in front of the clarinet, saxophone, flute and trombone players.
Before the band started playing “The Little French Suite,” the Northwestern student told them to read through the music. Many leaned closer to the sheet music and adjusted their glasses. Some mouthed the rhythm of the song.
Although there were squeaks and high-pitched peeps during the first run-through, Tang kept smiling.
“When you see their energy and enthusiasm, you get inspired,” said Tang who is working toward a master's degree in music education. “We often think we are too old to learn something new. But it's never too late.”
Playing in the band transports Ethel Liten, 83, back to when she played the piano as a child. In her 70s, she decided to take up the clarinet.
“Playing an instrument is an absolute delight,” she said. “It's so satisfying.”
When Liten's husband died more than 20 years ago, she started searching for activities that could clear her mind and bring joy. She met Bowers and learned about the band.
“Music has always been a part of my life,” she said. “We always listened to music in my house. We had a Victrola, we had records and when the radio came out, we had that too.”
Liten is so dedicated to playing, she takes private lessons when she's not practicing with the band.
“I needed something for myself,” she said. “When this opportunity came, I grabbed onto it. The music has opened a new life for me.”
Copyright (c) 2005, Chicago Tribune
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Miller Family Plays in Tournament of Roses Parade
Larry Rodgers, The Arizona Republic
January 1, 2005
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Music has always been a big deal for Big Bird and his pals on TV's Sesame Street, and it has been a huge presence for generations in the family of Phoenix's Barbara Miller.The Miller family's love of music has landed four members starring roles on a Sesame Street-themed float in today's Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, expected to attract 1 million spectators and 300 million global TV viewers.
The three generations of musicians - Miller, 61; her daughter Ellen Miller, 34; and grandsons Carl Cohen, 11, and Benjamin Cohen, 7 - will play Merrily We Roll Along as they share the “Music Makes Us a Family” float with Big Bird, Elmo, Oscar, Cookie Monster and other Sesame Street characters and a human “drum circle.”
“They were looking for a family that plays music together,” says Miller, a Valley native who plays oboe and English horn. “They found us through the Desert Foothills New Horizons Band, which is geared toward seniors who want to get back into music or pick up an instrument for the first time.”
The four will be on the flower-covered float for four hours, covering 5 1/2 miles, starting at 9 a.m. Arizona time.
“I won't make it that long,” first-grader Benjamin said, drawing gentle reassurance of “Yes, you will” from his grandmother.
Miller's encouragement of her children and grandchildren to enjoy music reflects the philosophy of the two non-profit groups sponsoring the float - Sesame Street Music Works and NAMM, the International Music Products Association. Both promote the benefits of having music as a hobby, benefits studies indicate include family bonding, reduced stress, better academic performance and increased self-esteem.
“There's a growing body of evidence linking early childhood music-making with increased brain function,” says Joe Lamond, president and chief executive officer of NAMM.
“The wonderful thing about music is that all generations can participate in it. You can have fun, no matter what your level (of proficiency) is,” says Miller, who plays in the New Horizons Band, as well as groups sponsored by Glendale, Paradise Valley and Glendale Community College.
The grandmother and two boys get together regularly to practice and play. Ellen Miller, who is the boys' aunt, joins in on flute or piano occasionally. She and the boys also attend Barbara Miller's band performances.
“I started teaching them keyboard over the summer to help them start reading music, and we just started playing together,” Barbara Miller says. “Sometimes we'll look at each other and just start laughing when we're playing.”
Benjamin, a drum student who attends Madison Simis School, calls music challenging but enjoyable: “You keep doing it till you get good. Then it's fun.”
Carl, who plays saxophone and attends fifth grade at Madison Meadows School, has set a goal of playing in his school's jazz band next year.
Music is being used to relax children during class in the Madison Elementary District, says Ellen Miller, who teaches math and science at Madison No. 1.
“A lot of teachers use music, usually jazz or classical, because of all the studies that talk about how kids' cognitive abilities increase, or it soothes them,” the teacher says.
The family's assignment for the 116th edition of the Rose Parade is making for a very busy trip. After flying in Friday and watching the judging of 50 floats in the parade, whose theme is “Celebrate Family,” the four Arizonans were due at the parade route at 5:30 a.m. today. They'll wear red-and-white outfits provided by NAMM, which is paying all the family's expenses. They'll be interviewed by local TV and radio stations before the parade and will fly home later today.
“It will be two very long days,” Barbara Miller said Monday. “But they're so excited.”
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OASIS Band Members Find Music Gets Better With Age
Ryan Heinz, The Suburban Journals of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 7, 2004
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Just try telling the senior citizens in the OASIS Center for Music program that playing music is a young man's game.They refused to take any heed of their age for their fall recital Nov. 30 at the Community Music School of Webster University, off Delmar Boulevard in University City.
Sure, St. Louis' own Chuck Berry, 78, still plays once a month in the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill; Louis Armstrong had a No. 1 hit with “What a Wonderful World” three years prior to his death at age 71; and 79-year-old B.B. King still tours frequently.
The difference? None of the three aforementioned greats waited until their golden years to first learn their instrument.
That's right, all of the participants in the OASIS Center for Music's annual fall recital are not only older than 50, the vast majority of them have all learned to play their instrument only a few years earlier. Diane Quitmeyer, manager of OASIS Center for Music, says the program keeps older adults engaged in social and intellectual activities.
“They've always had the desire (to learn an instrument) but didn't always have the time or money,” she said. “Now that they are retired, they've got both.”
Quitmeyer, a music therapist who started the program four years ago as a music and wellness project, said several beginning-level classes are offered for a wide variety of instruments. That became evident while watching the recital, in which participants from throughout the St. Louis region played everything from the flute and drums to hand bells and guitar. The one catch is you have to be at least 50 years old to participate.
Alonzo Reed, 55, a real estate agent from Normandy, took up guitar two years ago through the program. Despite being a longtime, avid golfer, playing the guitar has become a close second to his favorite hobby. His daughter, Ashlei Ray of Brentwood, was in attendance to watch her father perform at the recital. She said Reed has really taken to the instrument, sometimes getting up as early as 4 a.m. just to practice.
“It gives him something to do, and I don't have to worry about what he's doing or if he's bored ... because he's always at home playing his guitar,” Ray said, laughing.
The Nov. 30 recital was special, because the OASIS New Horizons Band shared the stage with the Alton New Horizons Band - another group of senior musicians, who had just learned to play within the last several years.
The two bands took turns performing songs, with the OASIS New Horizons Band starting off the recital with a noble take of John Williams' “Raiders March” (the theme to the “Indiana Jones” movies). However, it was the Alton New Horizons Band's spot-on performance of Kander and Ebb's “New York, New York” that was truly surprising, given that the band members were basically music novices.
“More than half of the band, five years ago they couldn't read music and they couldn't play music,” said Stanley Chytil, director of the Alton New Horizons Band. “Today I'm very proud of them because they can read music, they're a part of a group and they do well.”
Chytil himself is a storied musician. The Godfrey, Ill., resident escaped communist Czechoslovakia in 1987 in order to have the freedom to play the music of his choice. After arriving in the United States in 1989, he took a job at a car dealership until he learned enough English to teach music at Lewis and Clark Community College. He later started the Alton New Horizons Band and now likes his band to perform alongside newer groups such as the OASIS New Horizons Band.
“People in the group, they sometimes get discouraged and say, ‘Oh, I'm not going anywhere with this.’ But I can say to them, ‘Look, you were there and now listen to where you are,’” Chytil said.
Quitmeyer is highly enthusiastic when discussing the program and its benefits to one's health. She cited Dr. Richard Rowe of Clayton, who recently succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Rowe was the clarinet player in both an OASIS jazz ensemble and the New Horizons Band. Despite his ailment, he continued to play with both groups.
“The doctor asked him, 'Why are you still alive' and he said it was the music program, because people with pancreatic cancer don't live very long, and it was a phenomenal length of time he was surviving,” Quitmeyer recalled. “He actually played up until a couple of weeks before he died, so the whole thing was remarkable.”
Eve Wilde, 76, a native of Berlin, Germany, who lives in Olivette, already plays piano but has joined the program to learn the violin and flute.
“I don't play very well,” she said bluntly of her participation in the program. “But I enjoy it.”
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Orchestra Helps Adults Develop Musical Talent
Christi C. Babbitt, The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah
December 16, 2003
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