Perennial Muse, Inc.

Perennial Muse wishes everyone a happy, healthy, safe, and lovely 2025 New Year!

Perennial Muse's Steel Tongue Drum Class for Older Adults is in full swing at Heights and Hills Park Slope Center for Successful Aging in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York. Everyone is having a good time learning songs, music fundamentals, and how to play together as a group. Our 8- week session at this older adult center ends in January 2025 with a final performance presentation by the participants performing musical selections for community friends, family, and staff at the center. Looking forward to beautiful music making with these wonderful steel tongue drummers! 🎶💟

This is a Local Arts Support (LAS) project sponsored, in part, by the Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) New York State Council on the Arts administered by Brooklyn Arts Council Brooklyn Arts Council

Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings! Perennial Muse wishes everyone a joyous, healthy, creative year end and year ahead. We are thankful and grateful to all our supporters and for a wonderfully busy year of music programs brought to older adult communities.

As we get ready to close out the year, let us look around and outside of ourselves to see who in our communities needs social interaction, friendship, creative things to do, love and support. Let’s engage with one another with empathy, kindness, and respect.

Perennial Muse’s mission is to share the joy of music and music making in older adult communities. We appreciate all the support that helps us bring free afternoon concerts, adult beginner group music classes, and workshops to older adult centers and nursing rehabilitation centers in New York City.

Please consider supporting our mission by donating to our Year End fundraising campaign. Thank you!
DONATE NOW at https://www.perennialmuse.org/donate-now

Donate Now — Perennial Muse Donate Today!Your contributions support our mission of bringing music programs to older adult communities. We appreciate each and every donation given and thank all of our donors for their generosity. Please help us continue bringing music to older adult communities by making a tax-deductible gift t...

We are excited to be a part of Brooklyn Gives Giving Tuesday again this year! Brooklyn Gives sponsored by Brooklyn Org supports Brooklyn-based nonprofits serving Brooklyn communities. Perennial Muse is committed to serving older adults and adult learners in New York City and beyond through our music programs which include free afternoon concerts, adult beginner group music classes, and workshops.

Your support really matters and can make such a difference in bringing joy, excitement, love, and comfort to so many through the power of music. Help us share the music! Please find us on the Brooklyn Gives platform and support our mission with your tax-deductible donation. Thank you!
Our profile page: https://bkgives.brooklyn.org/organizations/perennial-muse

It's right around the corner! Tuesday, December 3rd is Giving Tuesday. Please consider supporting Perennial Muse and other nonprofit organizations in your community. Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! We are thankful, grateful, and send good energy to all!

Perennial Muse will present the third and final Lunch Music Cafe of the year with an afternoon of live music on Tuesday, November 12 from 12pm- 1pm at Cobble Hill Health Center in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY. The Perennial Muse String Quartet will perform classical and popular music favorites during lunch. Bon Appetit!

Lunch Music Cafe, our free afternoon live music concerts at older adult centers, rehabilitation & nursing centers, and assisted living facilities in Brooklyn, New York, is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council Brooklyn Arts Council.

Perennial Muse is running two rounds of Steel Tongue Drum for Older Adults classes at two older adult centers (OACs) in Brooklyn, New York! Classes will meet once a week for 1 hour at Wayside Out-Reach Development Inc. WORDnyc Tompkins Park Older Adult Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and Park Slope Center for Successful Aging in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Participants are provided with everything needed for the class, including use of a steel tongue drum. Everyone is excited and ready to make music 🎶! Stay tuned for the tunes!

This is a Local Arts Support (LAS) project sponsored, in part, by the Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.

Perennial Muse's Lunch Music Cafe on Tuesday, October 29th was such feel-good occasion with the fabulous Sterling Strings NYC performing and bringing good vibes and great music to members at Millennium Development Penn Wortman Older Adult Center in East New York, Brooklyn. Everyone was feeling so good! The music and spirit of the tango, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Nina Simone and other favorites filled the space with beauty, joy, and wonderful energy! Thank you, Eric Cooper (cello), Sean David Cunningham & Savion Washington (violins), and Eliano Braz (viola) for a heart and soul rendering, fantastic afternoon of music🎶💟!


Lunch Music Cafe is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council

We are falling into the Autumn season with joyous live music at lunchtime. Perennial Muse is so happy to present Lunch Music Cafe performance on Tuesday, October 29th from 12:15pm-1:15pm to our friends at Millennium Development Penn Wortman Older Adult Center in East New York, Brooklyn! Sterling Strings NYC will be filling the musical 🎶 air with a delightful mix of string quartet classical and popular standards.

Community members at Tompkins Park Senior Center in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NY got a chance to try out the steel tongue drum in yesterday's demonstration introducing the steel tongue drum! They quickly picked up how to play the instrument and everyone experienced its beautiful relaxing sound. We're all excited about the Steel Tongue Drum Class for Older Adults session starting at the center in November!

What is Creative Aging and what does it look like in action? Perennial Muse ran its first Steel Tongue Drum Class for Older Adults this spring at the Penn Wortman Older Adult Center Millennium Development in East New York, Brooklyn, NY. Participants in the 'Penn Wortman Ensemble' had 10 classes of instruction led by teaching artist Dr. Aundrey Mitchell. All class materials, including the instruments, were provided by Perennial Muse.

In addition to learning to play the steel tongue drum, participants also learned about the fundamentals of music, how to read music, and how to play together as an ensemble. They even joined with the center's choir for two musical selections! Their beautiful final culminating event 'An Afternoon in May' included an arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" and 2 collaborations "Amazing Grace" and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" with the choir.

Creative aging focuses on using the arts and creativity to engage and enhance the quality of life for older adults and adults aged 55+. Creative aging group music classes offer many benefits for older adults. Regular music-making in a group setting creates a sense of community and can lift mood, lower stress, and support overall mental and physical health. These classes are also fun and socially engaging - enriching the collective expression of music.

Steel Tongue Drum Class for Older Adults is a Local Arts Support (LAS) grant project. Local Arts Support (LAS) is sponsored, in part, by the Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council

September is Healthy Aging Month, and we are celebrating the journey of aging with vitality and purpose. Let’s encourage and fully embrace creative aging—explore new hobbies, learn new skills, and express ourselves artistically. From painting to writing, dancing to making music, creative pursuits enhance cognitive function, boost social connections, and foster a sense of accomplishment, proving that personal growth and creativity have no age limit!

The End of the Summer Party and Lunch Music Cafe at the Park Slope Center for Successful Aging Heights and Hills in Park Slope, Brookyln last week Monday, August 26th was a VIBE - everyone was listening and enjoying some exquisite jazz performed by trio members violinist Gwen Laster, bassist Damon Banks Dee Cee Banks, and drummer Damon DueWhite. Thank you Gwen, Damon 1, and Damon 2 for the musical joy and artistry that you always bring to the sphere! 💟🎶

Lunch Music Cafe is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.

Lunch Music Cafe is back! We're starting up our series of free afternoon live music concerts at older adult centers, rehabilitation & nursing centers, and assisted living facilities in Brooklyn, New York. The Laster-Banks-DueWhite jazz trio will be performing at Heights and Hills Park Slope Center Successful Aging's End of Summer Party on Monday, August 26th from 12:30pm-1:30pm in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Time to get the end of summer groove on!

This Lunch Music Cafe is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council.

Greetings and Happy Late Summer!
SPECIAL NEWS! Perennial Muse, Inc. is thrilled to announce that we are a 2024 Brooklyn Arts Council BAF (Brooklyn Arts Fund) & LAS (Local Arts Support) Grantee! Funds from these grants will support two of our ongoing projects - Lunch Music Café and Steel Tongue Drum Class for Older Adults.
Thank you to Brooklyn Arts Council , New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) , and New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) .

We are grateful for our second year as a BAF grantee! These funds help support Perennial Muse’s Lunch Music Café series in presenting free afternoon concerts during lunchtime hours at older adult centers, rehabilitation & nursing centers, and assisted living facilities in East New York, Park Slope, Fort Greene, and Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Dining while enjoying in a live music performance is always a treat!

LAS supports our new Steel Tongue Drum Classes for Older Adults which we launched this spring in East New York, Brooklyn at the Penn Wortman Older Adult center. These 10-session group classes are an opportunity for older adult beginners to get together to learn how to play a musical instrument, explore the fundamentals of music, and enjoy making music in a social setting. It is a fun and engaging class!

BAF is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) (), administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (). Local Arts Support (LAS) is sponsored, in part, by the Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Nysca with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (

This week Perennial Muse is offering a FREE online cello workshop for adult beginners and amateur players presented by master cellist and teaching artist Kate Dillingham . Kate will be covering the basics of cello playing such as posture, holding the instrument, bowing, fingerings, and sound production. She will also share tips on playing comfortably and effective practicing. The workshop will be presented on the platform. A link to the join workshop will be sent upon registration. Join us for this event!
REGISTER to attend the workshop: www.perennialmuse.org/workshops.

General 2 — Perennial Muse WORKSHOPS Spring/Summer 2024 Free Online Cello Workshop for Adult Beginners with Kate Dillingham, cello Learning how to play the cello is awesome! Want to learn from one of the best? Perennial Muse invites you to join acclaimed cellist and teaching artist Kate Dillingham for a free online cello work...