Who we are
Our Mission
To enrich the lives of elderly people through the universal language of music by bringing the talents of young musicians to the communities of seniors, to entertain them, foster intergenerational connection and create shared joy.
Young musicians touch the hearts and minds of isolated residents.
The children also enjoy a space to perform and to believe in their ability to change lives for a moment.
While we are fighting loneliness of elderly people or underserved communities by spreading joy and therapeutic values of music, we also provide young musicians a way to find a meaning in their instrumental practice and to showcase their talent in the form of community outreach without any pressure.
Our Story
The Blachez family has always lived around music.
The four children started instruments as early as three years old and grew with their music vocations, most often with the help of caring music teachers that became part of an extended family. As the Blachez children grew, so did a family orchestra with Isis playing the violin, Horace on drums and guitar, Ivanhoé mastering the saxophone, and Marcel with his trumpet. Although initially only playing for friends and family, the passion turned into a broader-reaching project.
When temporarily moving back to Paris from New York in 2016, the dream of sharing music with aged and isolated people was put into action. Papi Jean, Pascale’s grand-father had spent his last years in a nursing home, bringing to light the arduous conditions of life aged people can come to face with: deserted, cold environments permeated with chilling silence. Utterly convinced that music could spin the wheel the other way around by bringing liveliness, the Blachez had to look no further than across the street. (…)
Our Team
1. The Blachez’s Band
At its origin, the Happiness Factory includes the family featuring Marcel (Trumpet), Ivanhoé (Saxophone), Horace (Guitar & Drum), Isis (Violin & Voice), Dad (Double Bass) & Mom (Piano)
But rapidly the family was then joined by other children and families to build the Factory.
2. And many children
We are lucky to count amongst our team many young talented musicians who have joined us in the past few years and months: violinists, euphonium, sax, clarinet, recorder players, guitarists, cellists, drummers, pianists, singers, and more, playing solo or with their siblings and friends or even parents.
At The Happiness Factory we encourage children to practice music with their family and to perform together; this is always such a joy for the seniors when they listen to a duet featuring a child with his/her sibling or with a parent.
Now based in New York, we shared the project with our local community and quite naturally started recruiting the young musicians at the Lycée Français de New-York where our children went to school. We met with amazing young musicians and families who are regularly joining us for the concerts.
3. With many parents
The team counts also a growing community of parents and families who regularly join us for the performance and assist in many ways – whether it is through taking pictures, welcoming the seniors in the room, carrying the material, and sometimes singing too.
Our most essential value: we welcome any young musician! what is valued is their willingness to share their emotions through music, not their music level. Audiences appreciate amateur musicians who do their best and show their dedication. What is unique when a child plays is their whole, honest and candid self. They want to put all their music into every note. That is the real gift.
Being anxious about playing the first few times is natural, but after several concerts the child becomes very comfortable.
Playing for seniors trains young musicians to perform live for an audience.
They also earn volunteering hours.
Our values
Enthusiasm
The children and all parents who make for the Factory’s community share the same positive energy and passionate feeling of transmitting emotions in a peaceful environment.
We welcome any musicians
The Happiness Factory welcomes any young child to come and play in front of seniors no matter their musical level; we never want to hear someone say they don’t have the level to play.
Generosity and Compassion
Each musician should have intrinsic motivation to make a difference through their music. They offer their music and time as a gift to demonstrate their care for seniors.