Music is Ageless

by Lynette Janke

I started playing the flute when I was in fourth grade, but my band director told me he needed a cello player at the high school, so one day he brought me a cello. I said, “Oh! Bring it on!” I started taking cello lessons with someone in the Cleveland Orchestra, and I continued playing the flute in marching band—I was a head majorette.

Later, after I graduated college in Milwaukee, I taught art for about seven years. And then I had my kids. I stayed home with my kids, and when I decided to start working again when they went to school, I thought, Do I want to teach art, or do I want to teach music? I decided I would go with music. I went back to school and finished up enough courses to get my teaching certificate. I taught in the Akron Public Schools for fourteen years, everything from elementary general music to strings orchestra. When I retired, I thought, Oh, now what am I going to do? I had heard about this place, The Music Settlement, so I thought I better check it out.

My life would not be as rich as it is today if I had never set foot on this campus. As we age, if we’ve taken a long break from playing our instruments, one day we’ll hear a piece of music and say, “Boy, I wish I still played the piano!” And at The Music Settlement, it doesn’t matter how old you are. There aren’t a whole lot of places where you can go as an adult and learn something. But the teachers here don’t treat me any different from how they treat, say, a gifted high school student who could probably go on to Julliard. I may not be doing this to make a living, but I can come here and satisfy my quest for knowledge of music, and they take me seriously. This is really important to me. Hey, I’m seventy-five, and I think I’m a spring chicken! I may have a few aches and pains, but my involvement with music keeps the old head thinking, working, solving problems. I don’t want any rusty cogs up there. And physically, because I play the cello and the flute, my hands are like a thirty-year-old’s.

I especially love taking classes and playing in ensembles with people of all ages. The Music Settlement really occupies a special niche here. I’m not interested in playing in an all-adult symphony orchestra. I’d rather play in a class that contains maybe a high school student, maybe a middle school student—who knows, maybe an elementary school student. We’re all in the same boat—we’re all learners. We’re all making music. We’re all solving problems. We’re learning how to work together. I love it. There’s no other place like it.

At The Music Settlement, I studied cello with Ida Mercer until she retired, and she became a friend. I also took flute lessons with Linda White, and I now play in two flute ensembles here. Some of us have been in these groups for years, but when we get new people, we’re, like, Hey, come on in! You’re one of us now. The friendships we make don’t just stay in this building. We go out for coffee. We sometimes play music at one another’s houses. This is my happy place. No matter what goes on in my life, when I walk through those doors, all my problems all disappear. I have friends here who I could count on if I need something. This place brings me utter joy. Every day of my life. I’m so energized from the minute I walk in.

To me, music is a spiritual experience. I’m not a super religious person, but when I listen to music, I feel I’m at one with the ultimate creator. Music for me is important as food and rest. It’s just something I need to have. I had cancer in 2015 that almost wiped me out financially. And when I could not pay for everything, there are people here who made it possible for me to take whatever classes I wanted. It was a true blessing. I am so thankful that my opportunities here are not based on my income.

Without The Music Settlement, my life would not be as rich, happy, and joyful as it is now. I’m seventy-five years old now—and I plan on doing this until I’m a hundred! They’ll have to just wheel me in a wheelchair, and I’ll be cool with that. I just love it here.

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