The People

Joe Benoit

A much-loved member of the Chorus, Joe was a phenomenon at 83 years old, not only for his ability to memorize a whole song in an afternoon, but also because, after six rounds of chemotherapy, he went on Young@Heart’s European tour, against his doctor’s orders. He joined his very good friend Lenny for a ripping version of the Talking Heads song “Life During Wartime.”

Helen Boston

Helen was born and educated in Philadelphia. She married and had nine children: six girls and three boys. Helen currently resides in Florence, Massachusetts. She loves performing with the Young@Heart Chorus, making quilts, working on arts and crafts, and decorating with balloons.

Eileen Hall

A London native, Eileen married an American soldier who was stationed at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts, and beat the Beatles to America by nearly two decades. She has also called Hialeah, Florida and Rapid City, South Dakota her home. In London, Eileen performed in Summer in December and her theatrical credits include performances with Stage West in Springfield and the Yale Drama School. Hall died in July 2007 at the age of 93. She had been a chorus member for 24 years.

Jeanne Hatch

A Missouri native, Jeanne began her singing and acting career at four years old. She sang with a swing band in the 1940s, acted off-Broadway in the 1950s, and taught theater and speech at Holyoke Community College from 1969 to 1999.

Donald Jones

Don was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. As a child, he was into sports, but joined a church choir and discovered a love of singing. He continued to sing in high school and later in the Marine Corps, where he found his passion for drama. He performed in many plays, including Never Sang for My Father, Raisin in the Sun, Lovers and Other Strangers, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He has sung with the Donbar Players, Kultratama, Stage West, and Anta and the Bethel Laires Quartet, among others.

Fred Knittle

Eighty-one years old and suffering from congestive heart failure, Fred returns to join the chorus for a one-time performance of Coldplay’s “Fix You” with friend Bob Salvini. A charming and magnetic member of the troupe for years, Fred had to leave the chorus after suffering a heart attack. Knittle died in January 2009 after a brief battle with cancer. He had sung with the chorus on and off since 1992.

Norma Landry

Norma, a native of Webster and resident of Easthampton, tuned her pipes in glee clubs, choirs, and the Hampshire Choral Society. A retired secretary for the Easthampton Superintendent of Schools, Norma is an avid gardener and traveler.

John Larareo

John is familiar to Northampton audiences as a 30-year veteran of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Follies. The Hatfield resident is a former member of the Amherst College Department of Building and Grounds. John loves people, travel, and music.

Patricia Larese

Pat — whose credentials include serving as secretary to the president of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce, the Connecticut State Armory inspector, the Indiana Steel Corporation purchasing manager, and the Stanley Home Products purchasing agent — is also the Young@Heart president.

Miriam Leader

Miriam belies her age as she hikes and bikes through the streets of Northampton. The Young@Heart Chorus' longtime violinist, Miriam also plays the mandolin. She sings in the international folk dance band Panharmonium and the klezmer band Hot Kishkes. Miriam's resume includes multiple careers (poet, freelance journalist, photographer, agriculturist, and now grandmother of five) as well as addresses (Cincinnati, Providence, New Rochelle, Vermont, Israel, France, and, for three decades, Northampton).

Pat Linderme

Pat began singing at three, imitating her father. At age 15, she was a contestant in a regional talent contest. She sang “Ave Maria” and came in second to a young man who sang a comedy song. Later, she sang with her husband Charles, a gifted pianist, and bandleader.

Brock Lynch

Brock is Young@Heart's only MD. He moved from his native Boston to join the staff of the Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A Yale medical graduate, he points out that he performed his first appendectomy when he was only 20, but didn’t learn to drive until he was 21. After being inspired by seeing the late chorus diva Anna Main in her 100th birthday parade, Brock joined the group in 1996.

Steve Martin

Steve joined the Young@Heart Chorus after a chance meeting between two friends while grocery shopping. Throughout his life, from weekend family jams in Detroit to several amateur theater productions in Chicago nearly a century ago, Steve has maintained a love for music.

Joseph Mitchell

The second child in a family of six in Palmer, Massachusetts, Joe attended public schools and presently resides in Springfield. He retired as facilities management supervisor of Mass Mutual Financial Group after 43 years of service. He is a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a local member of the Carl L. Talbot Post 6189. Joe enjoys fishing, and volunteers at the Springfield Chapter of the American Red Cross. He is married and a proud father and grandfather.

Dora B. (Parker) Morrow

Dora is the fourth child of a family of 13 and was born in Hennings, Tennessee. She is widowed and the mother of eight sons and seven daughters. She has 23 grandchildren and is the mother-in-law of Young@Heart drummer Bill Arnold. A 56-year resident of South Bend, Indiana, Dora currently resides in Springfield, MA. She enjoys traveling, singing, flower gardening, and arts and crafts.

Gloria Parker

Gloria is a mother of four as well as a retired school cafeteria cook and Smith College Residence and Dining Services staff member. Gloria is a veteran of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Follies and volunteers in Northampton Schools variety shows. She also worked at the Walter Salvo House meal site, where she first saw a performance by Young@Heart.

Liria Petrides

Liria began her musical career singing Albanian songs with her relatives at weddings and celebrations. For 11 years, the retired school secretary and law library clerk commuted to Young@Heart gigs from Fitchburg before settling in Amherst in 1997.

Ed Rehor

Born in Springfield, Ed was always interested in music and sports. He fought in World War II and the Korean War before coming home to raise five children. He is a Boy Scout leader and plays in four community bands. He enjoys fishing, boating, hunting, and backpacking in the wilderness on horseback. One day, he went to do his laundry and ended up in a (Young@Heart) chorus line.

Bob Salvini

Bob’s version of the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” was legendary. In 2003, Bob was struck down by a severe illness and had to retire from the chorus. At the age of 76, Bob returned to sing for the first time in three years, joining friend Fred Knittle for a one-time duet performance of Coldplay’s “Fix You.”

Jack Schnepp

Jack is a Wilbraham, Massachusetts resident who also currently sings with the Swingin’ Seniors of Chicopee and the Springfield Golden Age Club musicals. Jack has been a purchasing manager, materials manager, and regional administrator for Pioneer Valley corporations, but his ambition is to cut a record. A widower, Jack has six children and 17 grandchildren.

Janice St. Laurence

Jan studied both classical and modern music, including theory. She played piano for tap and ballroom dancing starting at age 12, and in high school accompanied choral groups and played trombone. In 1964, she accepted a position as accompanist for ballet, modern dance, and other classes at Smith College. After 13 years, she moved from performing arts to fine arts. She and her wonderful husband, a B-29 pilot, had four children and six grandchildren. They enjoyed flying small planes, playing sports, and traveling together. Music continues to fill her life and she also enjoys painting, knitting, and scrapbooking.

Bob Cilman

Besides directing the Young@Heart Chorus since 1982, Bob Cilman is also the executive director of the Northampton Arts Council, where he presents a broad range of arts events at the historic Academy of Music Theatre. Cilman was born and raised in Rochester, New York. He spent a couple of years at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and eventually received a bachelor's degree in American history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is married to furniture maker Polly Cassel and they have two children, Stella and Eva.

William E. Arnold, Jr.

A native of South Bend, Indiana, Bill was born into a family of six on January 16, 1942. He attended the public school system in Indiana, where he was an all-around sportsman. At age 15, he started playing the bongo drums and became known as "Bongo Bill." At 16, he started playing the drums, and became known as "Mr. Clean" when he started his career playing with Junior Walker and the All-Stars. He has played with such jazz greats as Teddy Wilson and Charlie Venture. Bill enjoys swimming and racquetball. He would love to learn to play a new instrument, but fears another name change would follow. His recent brush work on Echoes of the Prophet: Songs Inspired by Kahlil Gibran has been called “sublime” by Jazz Improv magazine.

Frederick Alexander Johnson

Freddy Johnson hails from Fall River, Massachusetts. In the 1980s, he cut his teeth playing guitar in several Portuguese wedding bands. The skills he learned playing "The Chicken Dance" in a powder blue tux strangely come in handy in the trenches with the Young@Heart Band. Freddy joined forces with the band a few years back, and has enjoyed putting some serious wear and tear on his passport as a result. With a solid background in rocking out, Freddy comes to the chorus via his original outfit, Drunk Stuntmen (who, among other things, have released four CDs and multiple EPs), has toured Europe with the Young@Heart Band, and has written an original score to the 1924 silent film version of Peter Pan.

Christopher Haynes

Christopher Haynes never thought he would play accordion at all — let alone play all the cool guitar solos from his favorite Stones tunes on the accordion — yet this is basically what he does for the Young@Heart Chorus. He favors quirky and sublime music, and is happy hammering out polkas or drifting away with Satie. His eclectic body of work includes a recently produced musical, several jazz and chamber works, and recording credits on many little-known folk records. He directs the music program of Springfield College and lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts with his daughters Norma Jean and Rosemary, and son, Sammy.

Jim Armenti

Jim has played in many bands for the last 25 years, including the Lonesome Brothers and Klezamir. He has appeared on over 20 original CDs as a writer, producer, or performer. He recently produced Mono, the Lonesome Brothers' sixth effort; Warm Your Hands, Klezamir's fourth CD; and The Eternal Question, the third in a series of CDs giving new sound to old Yiddish language songs, featuring Fraidy Katz. He also produced a CD of 10 songs about public libraries in order to raise money for the Westhampton Town Center Library Project.

Ed Wise

Ed has been tickling the ivories since he was three years old. After flunking out of the Cleveland Institute of Music, he has played in every dive from San Francisco to Vineyard Haven. He was sidekick to Martin Mull and David McCullogh for many years, but he finally hit the big time with the Young@Heart Chorus.

Steven M. Sanderson

Steven M. Sanderson is the lead singer of the world-renowned, original rock band Drunk Stuntmen. After falling in love with multiple chorus members, he left his band, family, and dog to become a full-time tour groupie. Sanderson is a Triumph motorcycle enthusiast.