Film event to focus on ‘the art of aging’

Music professor Glenn Gass will host a screening and discussion of the documentary “Young@Heart – The Art of Aging” at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Whittenberger Auditorium.

The event will open with a performance by local barbershop-style quartet, Carousel Quartet, followed by a screening of the film. There will also be a question-and-answer session with Bob Cilman, the director of the Young@Heart chorus, who was also featured in the documentary. There will also be a silent auction where attendees can bid on everything from music and voice lessons to meals.

Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, “Young@Heart” follows Cilman and a senior citizens choir named Young@Heart from Northampton, Mass., as they rehearse and perform rock ’n’ roll songs from artists including Sonic Youth and Coldplay, leading up to Young@Heart’s annual concert in Northampton.

Gass said he considers event organizer Jennifer Bass, who is a board member for Mental Health America of Monroe County, the “driving force” behind the event. Arranging for Cilman to attend was not difficult, Bass said, because all she needed to do was ask him.

She and her husband, geology professor Michael Hamburger, are longtime friends of his. She said she remembers learning about Young@Heart for the first time.
“Bob grew up with my husband,” Bass said. “He played at our wedding 26 years ago, and at that event he gave us a photograph of himself and said he just started this chorus. ... We just thought that was great.”

Gass was familiar with the documentary when asked to host the event, and the popularity of “Young@Heart” surprised him.

“When I mentioned it in class, (my students) seemed to know about it. ... For a movie that should be under the radar, it’s gotten a lot of notice,” Gass said. “The movie is so beautiful, and it says so much about the power of music and ... community.”

Directed by Stephen Walker, “Young@Heart” has grossed almost $4 million in the United States and Canada and earned awards including the 2007 Audience Award for Best International Feature from the Los Angeles Film Festival. USA Today also gave it three and a half out of four stars.

Gass said he thinks the film will appeal to people of all ages, especially young adults.
“It’s a poignant and empathetic look at aging and loss,” he said. “For college-aged people ... the most memorable thing is to get a sense of elderly people and how vibrant they are.”

Proceeds will benefit the Mental Health Association of Monroe County, whose aim is “to promote awareness, acceptance and treatment in the prevention of mental illness, through advocacy, education support and delivery,” according to its Web site.

“Some of the work that we do in supporting people with mental health challenges ... is to let them know there is an agency out there that deals with these issues,” Bass said. “The goal of the Art of Mental Health has been to blur the boundaries among us, to bring us together with a common goal ... whether that has to do with mental disabilities, physical disabilities, aging ... art is a way of celebrating life.”



‘Young@Heart’
Tickets for the film screening and discussion are $10 for adults and $7 for senior citizens and children under 12. Tickets for the entire event, including the reception, are $25. They are available for purchase at Bloomingfoods stores and the Sunrise Box office, located in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater lobby. A reception concludes the event with food and beverages provided by Bloomingfoods, FARM Bloomington, Lennie’s and Uptown Cafe.