SALISBURY — Swaying to the music, clapping, singing along and smiles were all evidence that those at the Rufty-Holmes Senior Center were enjoying the music provided by the Salisbury Symphony String Trio.

The trio, Sarah Womack on violin, Carter Bradley on viola and Gayle Masarie on cello, performed a mini concert at the center as part of their five day retirement community tour, going to 12 different venues. Their performance at the center, titled Tunes and Spoons, was day three of the event. 

Beth Cook, who serves as education director for the symphony shared they had been at the VA in Salisbury earlier in the day and would be visiting Trinity Oaks in the afternoon. Additional concerts at other local retirement facilities are planned for next week.

Learning about the concert tour, Hannah Medlin, programs manager at the senior center, said she had reached out to the symphony in the fall to get her name on the list of performances and they called her when they were ready to schedule the tour.

“We obviously jumped at the opportunity. We love to have them here,” Medlin said.

She said they put the word out about the upcoming event through their newsletter and other media. Melanie Ferguson said she and friend Mary take stained glass classes there and learned about it that way.

The space for the concert and lunch filled quickly, with a wait list to attend.

“It went very well. It filled up very quickly,” Medlin said. “It was a well received event that people were excited about.”

Lunch was served prior to the start of the concert along with a raffle of four Salisbury Symphony concert tickets, donated by a participant of the center who teaches some of the classes there, noted Medlin. 

One couple that won one set of tickets, Joe and Susan Sember, were happy to receive them.

“It means a lot” to win them, Joe said. We enjoy the symphony, he said, and Susan shared they were “looking forward to it.”

Susan also said when they learned that the symphony was going to be at the senior center, they thought it would be nice to attend, adding that “it’s like a Valentine’s Day treat.”

While they don’t come to the center often, learning that the symphony was playing at the center is what drew Barb and Tony Fiaschetti to be present for the event.

Being able to be there and share their talent is important to the members of the symphony, and Medlin added how thankful they were at the center to have this local, well-known group come.

As education director, Cook said, “it’s part of my responsibility to educate the public about the symphony and this is a great opportunity to do it, to bring three professional musicians to play a mini concert and let folks know that we are here and it’s an important part of the community and we want to be involved.”

Bradley noted that the musicians have talked about the importance of music education in schools and how they each began playing at the young age of eight all because musicians visited their schools. 

He said being at the facilities has been fun and they had been at several where “we weren’t really sure we were reaching the audience and then when they sang along with us and there have been cases where the folks are normally nonverbal throughout their daily routine but they sing with us. So we see the importance and power of music.”

These tours are sometimes the only avenue that some have to be able to hear the symphony play as Cook noted that “some of the facilities that we take the string trio to, the residents there are wheelchair bound, bedridden, they don’t leave the facility, and this is the only way we can bring orchestral music to them.”

As the group played for the audience at Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, Bradley introduced most of the pieces, for the exception of the final one, which Cook told about, and both shared informational tidbits about each piece, some of which included, “What a Wonderful World,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” “My Funny Valentine” and more.

As the group was leaving, one that was in the audience was heard to say, she enjoyed it and those were great selections.

Medlin shared that what she hoped came about from this event is what they encourage at the center, which is independence for the seniors in the county and getting them out and socializing with others, and to “enjoy an event with friends and meet new friends.”

Cook said she hopes that those who attended these mini concerts and heard the music would “enjoy the music, because these are professional musicians that play quality music.”

She shared that at the concerts thus far, they have seen that “people seem to remember, it brings up things about memories. We’ve seen people cry, we’ve heard people singing, it just makes people feel good.”