"The Person I've Become" - an Alisa Siegel documentary

In ripped jeans and sweatshirts, every Thursday afternoon, two dozen of them step off the bus. Teenagers from the local high school, ready for something none of them ever skip. It's their favourite event of the week. Choir rehearsal — where the singers range in age from 14 to 92.

The Intergenerational Choir was the brainchild of the people at the Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex. They turned to Medway High School — with its excellent music program — for strong young voices. And to the Sisters of St. Joseph, just down the road, for their magnificent chapel. Teenagers, people with Alzheimer's and nuns. A remarkable choir was born.

Alisa Siegel's documentary takes us into a Thursday afternoon rehearsal. It's called "The Person I've Become."

PLEASE NOTE: Shortly after Alisa's documentary aired in April 2016, Leitha Purko died. Her young choir friend, Julissa Litterick, is headed this fall to the University of Guelph to study neuroscience and psychology. She hopes to learn more about Alzheimer's, and to continue to work with people who live with it. In October the Alzheimer Society London Middlesex is launching a second Intergenerational Choir. Good luck to them.

The members of The Intergenerational Choir

(all photos by Bruce Wray, Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex)