Mountain Top Music Brings Holiday Cheer To Merriman House Residents

12/24/10

North Conway, NH (December 24, 2010) — On Monday, December 13th, musicians from the Mountain Top Music Center’s Chamber Ensemble brought music of the holidays to residents and staff of Merriman House at Memorial Hospital.

“Mountain Top’s musical program was magical with its selections of music that spanned the ages from ‘Jesus Christ the Apple Tree,’ that was taken from an Elizabeth Posten musical score found in the wall of a house in New Hampshire dating back to the 1700’s, to ‘Gaude Te,’ originally from the 1420’s, that was more recently popularized by a rock band,” commented Scott McKinnon, CEO and President of the Hospital, after the concert. “This event provided incredible enjoyment to an appreciative audience, and was definitely a highlight of the year for the residents of Merriman House.”

The concert included carols and traditional Christmas music from around the world including Tchaikovsky’s “The Crown of Roses,” Samuel Barber’s “Sure On This Shining Night,” the English carol, “I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In,” a French carol, “Patapan,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” the words of which were written by a Philadelphia minister.

Memorial ER Physician Makes Music

Memorial Emergency Room physician, Dr. Kimberly Ender, MD, took time out of her busy day to perform with the Mountain Top Music group, playing her recorder. She later commented, “I've played Chamber music for many years, and I’m thrilled to be associated with Mountain Top Music. We have a small informal group that gets together every Monday night to make music, a thoroughly joyful experience for me that also nicely complements my life as a physician.

“An important part of our mission is to teach music, but also to bring music out into the community. The musicians enjoyed performing for the residents just as much as the residents enjoyed hearing the music," said Mike Sakash, Executive Director of Mountain Top Music Center.

Mountain Top Returns to Merriman

On Saturday, December 18th, members of the Mountain Top String Band returned to Merriman House to perform a concert were joined by other community musicians to perform a concert at the Merriman House. The String Band, which meets Wednesday nights under the direction of Seth Austen and is known for its Celtic music, performed traditional Christmas carols as well as Celtic tunes. The performers included Rob Heard, Taffy Case, Suzanne Reid, Gale Johnsen, Mary Jo Adams, Steve Davis, Russ Lanoie, John McIntyre and Lynn White.

Located in Conway Village, Mountain Top Music Center provides private instruction, ensemble training, and group performance opportunities. Their faculty has many years of experience and offers a wide range of instruction including: voice, strings, cello, flute, piano, drum kit, guitar (acoustic and electric), bass guitar, saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet. The Center is taking registrations now through January 3 for their Winter/Spring classes. For more information, visit www.mountaintopmusic.org or call 447-4737.

Merriman House at Memorial Hospital is a Long Term Care Nursing Home that provides a home-like atmosphere focused on compassionate and personalized care to promote each resident's quality of life. For information, visit www.memorialhospitalnh.org/merrimanhouse or call 356-5461.