The opening keynote at the 2023 Environments for Aging Conference, April 16-18 in Charlotte, N.C., kicked off on a high note—a musical one to be exact.
Vijay Gupta, founder and artistic director at Street Symphony, a community of musicians creating spaces of connection for people in re-entry from homelessness, addiction, and incarceration in Los Angeles, walked on stage playing his violin—a tool he regularly uses to connect with others, whether he’s performing as an international recitalist, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician for over 20 years, working with homeless people in LA’s Skid Row community, or delivering his message of connection and hope with others on stages from TED Talks to the EFA Conference.
Early on as his career was taking off, Gupta told EFA attendees that he would look around the city and see people struggling with homelessness or mental health issues and wonder what was the point of making music when there was so much need around?
After meeting Nathanial Ayers, a musician who developed schizophrenia and became homeless, Gupta and Ayers began meeting to play violin together, often in the 2nd Street Tunnel in Los Angeles. “The relationships we were creating was more important than the space where we were meeting,” Gupta says. (Ayers like was profiled in the book “The Soloist,” by Steve Lopez, which was turned into a film in 2009, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.)
The relationship prompted Gupta to wonder “if there were others like him,” so he began calling hospitals, hospices, and shelters, eventually connecting with social workers with the idea to do something. Specifically, Gupta began bringing his musician colleagues to perform for Skid Row community members at mental health clinics and shelters.
Early on at these events, he would notice a sense of disconnect between the audience and the musicians, arriving in their all-black concert attire. “The moment we started playing music, there was an immediate connection,” he says.
During one particular concert at a state hospital, Gupta says someone in the audience raised their hand and asked if the musicians knew any songs they would know. “He was saying, ‘See me,’” Gupta says.
At that point, Gupta, who describes himself as a violinist, speaker, and citizen-artist dedicated to creating spaces of wholeness through music, says he realized “these concerts couldn’t be concerts any more. They had to be connections.”
He began to shift Street Symphony from doing outreach concerts to outreach events where participants engage the audience on what they hear and their reactions to music. He also cofounded Skid Row Arts Alliance, a consortium dedicated to creating art for and with local homeless residents.
Through his organizations’ events and classes, Gupta says he strives to build community for all. “Being part of a community is integral to being human,” he says.
Turning to EFA attendees, Gupta says that same element of community holds true in other spaces, including senior living communities. “How do we design for love? For connections?” he asks. “Where does your soul fee safe enough to show up?”
In closing his keynote presentation, Gupta shared the lyrics of the song “Take What You Need,” written by Street Symphony participants. Engaging the audience in a listen and repeat, Gupta played his violin while sharing the song’s affirmations: Take a stand. Take a breath. Take a moment. “… Take what you need, give the rest back,” he says.
Anne DiNardo is Executive Editor of Environments for Aging magazine.
