MHS Musicians Strike a Chord in the Hearts of Seniors

By Vrittee Sobti | Posted January 18, 2024

Vihaan Vatsa and Jonathan Wassef bring joy to local senior citizens through the power of music. Wassef, 17, is a guitarist who wanted to start a band. He posted online and Vatsa, 15, who has experience performing as a member of the Montgomery High School Marching Band responded. That’s all it took to get this band started.

From left: Montgomery High School student musicians Jonathan Wassef on electric guitar and Vihaan Vatsa on drums.

Since April, the duo has performed multiple times at local nursing homes, playing a repertoire of mainly rock songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The duo actually carefully selects songs that were popular in the past to establish a “common ground” between themselves and their audience.

Some of their favorite songs to play include: “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “One Way or Another” by Blondie, “Summer of ‘69” by Bryan Adams, and “Sliver” by Nirvana.

Wassef is an honor roll student in his senior year at MHS. He says he started playing the electric and acoustic guitar 10 years ago at his father’s suggestion. He says he enjoys performing for local senior citizen groups. “Every time we’ve gone, they talk about how they never get anything like this happening,” Wassef said.

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Vatsa says he discovered his passion for drumming four years ago. “It’s definitely rewarding, the reaction we get from the seniors,” he says. “They’ve always been really appreciative and talkative. They’re not afraid to come up and ask us questions… It feels really rewarding for us to play for them and to watch them enjoy it as much as they do.”

Wassef admits that he used to be afraid to sing in front of people. Now, he hopes to expand the band to include various instruments and to broaden the range of songs they can play. Additionally, they aim to perform at more venues, spreading the joy of music further within the community. “Honestly, we both just love music, and music is something we love to share,” said Wassef.