The Hilda Ross CD

The Hilda Ross Glee Club is formed from the residents of the villas (independent living units) at the Ryman Healthcare Hilda Ross Retirement complex in Hamilton, New Zealand.  Formed two years ago as a research group for Dr Julie Jackson-Gough, this group has continued to grow from strength to strength. In November 2007, they were the focus of a presentation done by Dr Julie made at the gerontology conference. The Glee Club performed at the luncheon, and then were featured on National Radio the same evening.

The group is non-auditioned, anyone from the villas or studios, may come and sing. In 2007 the were twelve regular singers, in the Glee Club.  In  the interim three of the Glee Club have died, and the group is now 16-strong, including Marie Jenkins, Hilda Ross Activities Co-ordinator.  The average age of the resident Glee Club singers is 78.5 years. They have performed at the village, and also at the nearby University of Waikato, where Dr Julie is a senior lecturer.
Julie continues to train the Glee Club and accompany them on the piano. The rising standard of the participants' singing has been a joy to hear and this CD shows what they have achieved in the last two years. To check out Dr Julie's ongoing research:
Gerontologyandsinging.blogspot.com