Victoria Young Brings Joy to Elderly Residents throughout Las Vegas with Music

“The experience of performing in the senior centers makes my heart feel warm.  I am so thankful that they enjoy and share my love of classical music.  Every smile shows me that I have brightened someone’s life that day with my performance.” – Victoria Young

12-year-old pianist Victoria Young (Show 235) believes sharing her love of music is an important part of being a musician. Over the past year, she has been visiting two elderly care facilities in Las Vegas: Heritage Springs Assisted Living Community and Torrey Pines Care Center. She visits the two facilities on the second Sunday of every month for about an hour and a half, sharing music and talking with the residents. These visits have allowed Victoria to bring music to those without access to outside opportunities and resulted in many new friendships.

We spoke with Victoria to learn more about her experiences at these two centers…

FTT: What inspired you to connect with elderly residents from your community? 

Victoria:  My goal is to share my passion of classical music with the audience. I hope that my playing can bring them into the world that I am in. With every note I play, I want them to see every “beat” of beauty in the music. I think they can feel my sincerity, and I hope to bring warmth and sweet memories to every heart. For some residents, I surely hope my music can ease their pain and loneliness.

FTT: What are some memorable moments?

Victoria: My favorite moments are when I’m playing and when I stand up to take a bow in the applause. It’s during these moments that I truly see the appreciation on the faces in the audiences. The biggest challenge in performing at these two centers is that I have to perform my music on electronic pianos. The touch of the keys and the color of the sound are so different from the acoustic piano. Nevertheless, I learn that when I play with sincerity, they will feel it and love it, and the flaws will go unnoticed.

FTT: What do you feel the residents have taken away from your visits?

Victoria: For many elderly attendants, my music triggered their memory and they remembered sweet times when they had often played or listened to the music that I played.  Many of them gave me hugs after the performance and told me how much they look forward to see me every month.  I always feel like I get more than I give after every performance.

FTT: What have you learned from these experiences?

Victoria: I learned that by sharing my music, which is what I love, I could bring happiness to others and to myself. Sharing my passion of music to the world is my goal, and every month, when I volunteer at these senior homes, I am spreading my enthusiasm of music to a small corner of the world and making people happier every moment I do it.

FTT: Do you think this type of experience can help with your development as a musician?

Victoria: This type of experience can very much help my development as a musician.  Every performance is a good experience for me to play my repertoire in front of an audience.

FTT: What advice would you give other musicians interested in doing similar work?

Victoria: The advice I would give to other musicians interested in doing a similar project would be simply to remember to have fun in this opportunity to perform.  Practice hard, understand the pieces, play with sincerity, and be appreciative.  It truly is an experience that is enjoyable, and it gives you such a warm feeling afterwards.