Singer Kym Frankovelgia Performs with Patriotic Pride at The Birches

On July 2, singer Kym Frankovelgia shared her musical talents with the residents at The Birches Assisted Living in Clarendon Hills, delivering a patriotic performance in honor of Independence Day.

Paying tribute to the U.S. military and nation, Frankovelgia belted out patriotic tunes interspersed with her classic cabaret standards.

Frankovelgia performs primarily for senior organizations because older adults are a receptive audience for her preferred musical style. Her repertoire includes classics from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and she finds that older audiences especially enjoy listening to these songs from their youth.

But Frankovelgia didn’t always cater to the 80 and older crowd. For many years she performed in night clubs and cruise ships, including American Hawaii Cruises and The Mississippi Queen Steamboat. During this time, Frankovelgia had the honor of working with legendary performers like The Ink Spots, The Four Lads, The Glenn Miller Band, and Maxene Andrews of The Andrews Sisters.

After working with some of history’s greatest entertainers, Frankovelgia decided to leave the glamour of cruise ships and night clubs behind so she could share her talents in assisted living communities and senior centers instead.

Frankovelgia greatly enjoys performing for older audiences because of their visible enjoyment of and connection to her music.

“I think older people are interesting and intriguing. They have so much life and experience,” said Frankovelgia. “When I start to sing a song, there is just a sparkle in their eyes that you don’t see too often.”

In each of her performances, Frankovelgia aims to evoke an emotional response from her audience. She wants her audience to have fun, but she also wants them to feel something deeper as a result of her music.

“What I try to do at every single one of my shows is make people laugh and make people cry and that happens every single time I’m out there, because the music means something to somebody,” said Frankovelgia.

Frankovelgia’s performances clearly evoke emotion and audience connection, as she continues to book show after show in the Chicagoland area. In 2013, she performed about 400 shows, including two shows at The Birches.

Despite her extremely busy schedule, Frankovelgia manages to maintain her passion for performing which keeps her energetic and motivated to continue her work as a senior-centric performer.

“I’m paid for my work, but the bigger payoff is the audience’s reaction to the work that I’m doing—that’s what I like about what I do,” said Frankovelgia.