OHS grad’s music brings seniors together

Owatonna High alum Ryan Ander-Evans was working on his master’s degree when he found a group that changed the way he looked at his life’s work.

Ander-Evans graduated in 2008, then earned a bachelor’s degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield. He worked in the Twin Cities for a while before deciding to take the next step with his education in London.

“I was dissatisfied with what I was doing with music at the time,” Ander-Evans said. “I was in a band that was getting some local success, but I was really disappointed. There was no musical exchange that was happening.”

He asked himself, “Why am I asking people to listen to my music? Why is this the way I’m connecting with people?”

Ander-Evans pursued a master’s in community arts and, in London, got involved with “a wonderful organization. It was billed as a film club for adults.”

In practice, he said, the group was much more. People had meaningful conversations and even collaborated on some stop-motion projects.

When he returned to Minnesota, Ander-Evans said, “I really missed doing that kind of work.” So he reached out to some organizations that provided programs and services for seniors to ask about doing sing-alongs.

The “Sunny Songs” project focuses on music from the 1930s to the 1980s. While everyone sings during the monthly gatherings, as with the program in London, it’s so much more than that.

“Everyone has a chance to talk about what’s going on in their lives,” Anders-Evan said. “A lot of the conversations come from the songs we’re singing.”

Unfortunately, the COVID pandemic brought a temporary halt to the senior home visits, but as soon as it was safe, Sunny Songs returned–with masks and social distancing. The project even won a grant in late 2020.

“I always have a program going somewhere,” Anders-Evan said. “We talk about the good stuff and the hard stuff in our lives… I remember someone who talked about, ‘My son died a year ago today from COVID.’ We were able to hold space for that.”

At times, it’s even a step above holding space.

Ander-Evans said the same parent grieving the loss of her son was having a particularly bad day and said she almost didn’t come down for the Sunny Songs session.

“I think just knowing she felt safe enough to sing with us is one time when I thought, this is more than just singing songs,” he said.

Most of the people in the singing groups are also dealing with chronic health conditions–which has made a big difference in Ander-Evans' life as well.

“Last year, I got some chronic health diagnoses,” he said. “It’s been amazing to be with these people who all have to deal with the same stuff. There’s a sense that we get it, we know.”

Sunny Songs is currently active at Hamline Hi-Rise in St. Paul, and Ander-Evans believes it’s a good spot for it.

“This feels like the right home,” he said. “This really feels like my community… What I’m really interested in is that long-term sustainability. The art I’m interested in is cnetered on those long-term relationships.”

But he has some hopes for the future as well.

“My dream beyond that would be if there are other people interested in doing something like this, I would gladly share any knowledge or go in for grant opportunities together.”

To learn more about Sunny Songs, visit recreationarts.com.