Piano, Laughter, and Bingo - 01/25/2026 Performance and Game Hosting

Authored by Rien Chen

This was our first senior center performance of 2026, and it was a wonderful visit!

I kicked off the performances with The Name of Life by Joe Hisaishi on the piano, beautifully arranged by Makiko Hirohashi. I practiced a lot for this piece, and it turned out quite well! The audience seemed to really enjoy it.

Next was Elena Chen on the piano, performing the classic Nocturne in C# Minor by Chopin. The piece is quite dreamy and wonderful to listen to; at one point, during a long pause, some of the seniors thought it was finished and started clapping! We all shared a laugh.

Next, Ruiya Xia played Nocturne by Samuel Barber. The notes seemed to flow from the piano like water, captivating everyone in the room.

Finally, Chloe Li ended the show with an impressive 14-minute-long performance of Fantasie Op. 17, 1st Movement by Schumann. The powerful yet graceful piece was a wonderful conclusion to the performance.

When our performances were finished, we invited Mary, the senior center’s honorary member and our oldest participant at 100 years old, to come up and sing a song if she felt comfortable. Mary hesitated for a moment, but then walked up to the front and sang the U.S. national anthem.

We sang along with her, and some of the other seniors in the audience joined in as well. After Mary finished, another senior continued singing with her from the audience, and the two of them shared one more song together, clearly not ready for the moment to end.

After the show, we upheld the tradition of asking the seniors if anyone had a birthday in the month of January; several did! After singing them a joyous birthday song, we bowed and concluded the performance.

Now, it was time for the game-hosting session downstairs. Today, we went with the classic Bingo, one of the seniors' favorites. Mrs. Tia, the senior center activities director, decided to up the stakes by promising a candy from her stash to the winners.

Mary, lucked out and won three times, to some of the other seniors’ chagrin. In the end, everyone received a piece for participating and had a good time. After cleaning up, we bid everyone

farewell, and that concluded our visit—I can’t wait to go again!

Performers: Elena Chen, Rien Chen, Chloe Li, Ruiya Xia

Game Hosts:  Elena Chen, Rien Chen