Begun in 1982 at an elder housing project in Massachusetts “to joyfully pass the time instead of passing before your time,” as their homepage puts it, the Young@Heart Chorus has evolved into a touring musical group of 75-and-up seniors that has attracted media attention ranging from The New York Times to The Daily Show, as well as inspiring an eponymous 2007 documentary. Now, Young@Heart NYC, a local satellite group, has teamed up with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus to present Home Is Where the Heart Is: A Benefit Concert to Support New Sanctuary Coalition, an organization whose self-described “small and scrappy team” provides support to immigrants: “the people we call ‘Friends,’ not clients — facing detention and deportation.”
Established in 2025 in partnership with the Henry Street Settlement, this will be Young@Heart NYC’s debut live performance; the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, a Grammy Award–winning ensemble that works with young singers from diverse backgrounds aged 5 to 18, has performed on stages including Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the United Nations. New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who has advocated for immigrant rights and spoken of immigrants in NYC as an economic benefit, not a burden, will appear as guest speaker at the event.
Older and younger New Yorkers using performance as a tool to support the rights of immigrants and insist on their value to our communities feels very, well, NYC. ❖