The Wellbeing Team are proud to have made a dream come true for Katherine House resident, Leonard, as part of the homes One Wish Project. Leonard was once a professional jazz singer and he was well known in music clubs in London, where he met the love of his life as he was performing.
His musical achievements include singing with a prestigious orchestra, and he is a real natural on the stage. The Wellbeing Team invited talented jazz musicians, Maya & Jonathon, to come in to perform timeless jazz classics. Leonard was given the opportunity to sing his favourite songs with them; the musicians were given notice about this and learnt songs of Leonards choice, practising with him before the big show.
Leonard began sitting in the front row, and he could be heard loudly ‘scatting’ with the musicians, using his voice as an instrument to improvise the melody and rhythms of the music. After this, it was amazing to see Leonard proudly take to the stage with true professionalism; he received a huge round of applause from the audience and his music career shined through. Studies have proven that music can trigger autobiographical memories and it was clear to see that this occasion meant so much to Leonard, reminding him of his past career performances that are so profoundly tied to his identity. This was a very heart warming occasion and as you can see, to this day Leonard is still a star.