(Credit: BJI / Blue Jean Images/Getty Images)

Even as an Arizona life plan community and its residents continue to file noise complaints against a live music venue across the street, the in-house music scene is thriving at the community.

Earlier this month, Mirabella at ASU asked the Maricopa County Superior Court for an injunction to prohibit concert venue Shady Park from emitting noise that exceeds the city of Tempe’s community standard. 

Yet residents at the luxury senior living facility are clearly still big fans of the arts. This fall, Mirabella launched a musicians-in-residence program in collaboration with ASU’s School of Music, Dance and Theatre. The program selected four graduate students from the school to reside within the senior living community, rent-free, and perform for the residents. The musicians, who specialize in vocals and playing various instruments, are responsible for at least one performance a week.

Performances occur all around the high-rise complex, which offers 239 independent living apartments and 59 skilled nursing, memory care and assisted living units. The most popular performance locations include the lobby, auditorium and lounge, said Ty Chiko, a doctoral student in voice performance and one of the program’s current musicians-in-residence. 

In addition, the program provides an opportunity for external musicians, typically students and student ensembles within the School of Music, to perform in front of an audience and to use Mirabella as a rehearsal space, he said. Chiko is also using his time at Mirabella to direct the residents’ choir.

“When I heard about working in a senior living community, I thought I could have many grandmothers in one place,” Chiko said. “And being in a community where people don’t want to stop learning and growing is something I’m also passionate about.”

Abigail Sherrill, another musician-in-residence and graduate student studying music therapy, told the State Press that she has found the residents to be welcoming and supportive of her and her fellow graduate students.

“A lot of people here are just lovers of music and we are excited that we’re here to bring all this music to the community,” Sherrill said.