Stand and Deliver

A Call to Help Senior Adults Complete Their Bucket Lists

The maturity of years brings echoes of dreams unfulfilled, explorations of places unseen, people unknown, activities untried. We call this The Bucket List.

For me, that “place” is not necessarily a specific destination, but an ideal that could happen in a number of cities in the United States. My bucket list is a long weekend or week that incorporates conducting a symphony orchestra, partaking of the local cuisine, watching a major league baseball game, going to a jazz club, and walking through museums and art galleries. These represent the aesthetic beauty that engage all of my senses.

This longing began early in my childhood. Starting at age 4, my mother would allow me to pick out a record to listen to before going to bed. I would look at the pictures on the cover and decide. She would drop the needle on a piece she thought I would like. More often than not, I was listening to classical music. (The other fare in house was Gospel songs, E. Power Biggs, Mary Martin, Spike Jones and the City Slickers Orchestra, or Homer and Jethro!)

There was one piece that I enjoyed above the rest. I specifically remember my mother asking me, “Timothy, what do you want to listen to this evening?” I said, “The one with the cannons.” That's right: The 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. My father had a subscription to Columbia Records. We had an LP of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Philharmonic performing Tchaikovsky's music. This was a repress of the 1955 recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWx9r2YNnw8

I listened to that recording so much that it is ingrained in my subconscious. Other people sleep walk or talk in their sleep. I conduct and sound the orchestral parts. Both my college roommate and my wife said I sat up in the middle of the night, made all the orchestra sounds and conducted the piece. After the last note, I laid back down and quietly slept. (Note: To my knowledge, that's not been repeated since.)

I shared this with a friend who is an orchestra conductor, concert pianist, and church organist-music director. I asked how I could possibly fulfill this dream as I am not actively involved in leading any performing groups. I conducted concert bands performing works by Borodin, Brahms, Faure, Persichetti, Vaughan Williams, and Verdi. Yet I've not been behind the podium for 16 years. Just once I'd like to study with a professional conductor for a few days, rehearse the orchestra, and conduct the performance of a lifetime.

The next idea was about extending this beyond myself. How could we invite orchestras and organizations to create a foundation to help people who always wanted to conduct a favorite orchestral piece? Why limit it to music? The “Bucket List Foundation” could help seniors see an ancestral home, cook with a famous chef in a well-known Mom & Pop diner, take the grandchildren to a sporting event or performance, experience the sunset and tranquility of a Pacific island setting, go to an archeological dig site, etc. People who are more connected and industrious than me would need to take up the mantle and carry the torch for such an endeavor. Who will Stand and Deliver such experiences to seniors?

As for me, Cleveland and St. Louis check off all the boxes, but I'm not opposed to Tokyo.

Timothy Burt taught school music in public, private, and parochial schools in Texas, California, and New Mexico. He plays trombone in the Texas Jazz Express, trumpet for church worship services, and tutors brass students online around the globe. He is also a Maxwell Certified Leadership Team Speaker-Coach-Trainer.