High school student Elias Kremer has touched Atlantans with his piano playing and his commitment to bringing sweet music to people with Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders.
Since his story appeared in the AJC’s Inspire Atlanta in October, Elias has found people of all ages who share his love of music and desire to help. Students — and adults — have reached out, volunteering to share the stage with him and other musicians to perform free concerts at senior living centers, nursing homes and community centers.
He’s received more requests for concerts, and donations and kind words have poured in for his mission: to add music therapy to a study at Emory University of the potential impact of lifestyle interventions on diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“The response has been incredible. My mind is completely blown,” said Elias, a classically trained pianist and student at The Galloway School in Atlanta. “It’s allowed us to fulfill our mission further and continue impacting people’s lives.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Elias Kremer
Credit: Photo courtesy of Elias Kremer
Last year, he founded the nonprofit NOTEWORTHE Music with two goals: uniting student musicians to perform for people in cognitive decline and establishing music as part of Emory’s Charlie and Harriet Shaffer Cognitive Empowerment Program.
Researchers in the program are trying to determine whether lifestyle interventions, such as better nutrition and physical activity, can slow the progression of a person’s brain disease. Elias feels passionately that music therapy also should be evaluated for its potential positive effects.
He has committed to raising $25,000 to hire a music therapist for the program. With the donations he’s received in the last month, he’s at 60% of his goal and expects planning to start early next year.
Elias said he’s received dozens of emails of support, including one that struck a chord. The donor told him that when her mother developed dementia, she hired a pianist every single week to play for her.
“She saw the kind of impact music can have,” he said.
About a dozen student musicians have been performing at free concerts with Elias this year. Now, he has both teens and adults wanting to help.
He said all of his efforts have been inspired by his grandmother, or “Grammy,” Ray Ann Kremer, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in late 2022 and is a patient at Emory Brain Health Center.
HOW TO HELP
To learn more about the nonprofit NOTEWORTHE Music, visit noteworthemusic.org.
To learn more about the Charlie and Harriet Shaffer Cognitive Empowerment Program at Emory, go to empowerment.emory.edu/about/index.html.
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