The Oakville Starz, a local non-profit operated by young students, recently performed at the VIVA Oakville Retirement Community for their monthly performance.
Led by Co-Founders, Sarina Wu and Ivy Yuan, Oakville Starz is an organization that was formed to give local musicians a platform to showcase their talent while giving back to the community. They do this by performing once a month at local seniors centres.
Oakville Starz is a non-profit organization founded in 2018 by eight young musicians from Oakville. The group has since grown to over 300 members, with a choir that performs at senior centres and organizes virtual events.
Beyond music, Oakville Starz also offers opportunities in media, teaching, fine arts, and more, encouraging members to propose new initiatives.
"Any performer can play whatever they like," said Wu. "It's valuable for the members because it gives them performance opportunities when a lot of them are really young and this is their first time ever performing for someone that isn't their mom or dad."
"It also grows that connection between them and the seniors that they might not experience with the youth unless Oakville Starz visits," Wu continued.
"They get to connect over music and it's really a magical experience."
The performance last weekend, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, saw six performers with a variety of musical talents. Some played instruments, some sang, and Wu even got the seniors to sing along as she taught them the notes to Somewhere Over the Rainbow on the piano.
Wu says Oakville Starz can have as many as 15-20 performances at one of their monthly seniors centre visits and they always make sure to take the seniors feedback and song requests into account at the end of every show.
As each performer went up, they lit up the room as audience members sang or tapped their hands along to the rhythms with big smiles on their faces.
The show ended with a choir performance, and the residents were grateful to have been part of the event as they expressed while speaking with Wu and Yuan afterwards.
"Our performances bridge the generational divide between seniors and the members, by giving the seniors a chance to socialize with the youth, give the members meaningful performance experiences and volunteering opportunities," said Wu.
"With a lot of support from the members parents, Oakville Starz members increase rapidly from 8 kids to over 300 members in 5 years," she continued.
"Aside from senior performances, we have also done fundraising events, online classes, created our own junior choir, senior choir and dance group, where I am a teaching assistant/substitute teacher."