Elvis Fever Arrives at Arcare Portarlington Aged Care

To celebrate Elvis Week, the 5-Star Choir at Arcare Portarlington recently rocked the house by performing an Elvis-themed concert for the community. The uplifting performance comprised of twelve Arcare Portarlington’s residents and two lifestyle team members, who worked hard to hit the high notes and memorise the infamous lyrics.

“We’ve been practicing for months and after a couple of sessions, we really came together as a group.” Resident and choir member, Kate said.

The gifted group sang classic Elvis songs such as Love Me Tender and I Can’t Help Falling in Love, while dressed in Elvis-inspired costumes.

Resident Bev also passionately played the piano throughout the concert stating, “I played piano as a child and learnt to play by ear. Now, I play as part of the Portarlington 5-star choir.”

The overflowing crowd cheered at the end of every song and the group’s confidence only grew with every applause and sign of encouragement from the rest of the community.

Portarlington’s Choir group was officially formed back in May 2019, after residents requested that a choir or musical group be started within the community. The lifestyle team quickly began recruiting residents to join the group, and rehearsals began shortly after that. Since then, the talented Choir have grown in numbers and have also previously sung songs from popular musicals such as The Sound of Music, Singin’ in the Rain and Oklahoma.

Research has already shown that music is therapeutic. but changing how you hear that music may amplify those benefits such as increased energy levels, improved engagement, and lower stress levels. Live music is bound to provide a positive experience by bringing out emotions from hearing the music live and seeing the musician in person. Arcare Aged Care loves to encourage regular and new performers who can judge what song to play next for our residents and allow personal requests to increase audience interaction and enjoyment.

“The residents have all worked incredibly hard in rehearsals and thoroughly enjoyed bejewelling their own costumes. It’s activities like these that really boost the spirits of our residents and it encourages them to socialise and form new relationships with people,” Arcare Portarlington Lifestyle Coordinator, Ebony said.

The brilliant and extraordinary show closed with a song and dance from Jailhouse Rock featuring a group of carers and the choir – they certainly brought the house down!

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