The 92-year-old pianist wows the audience. Elaine Lebar suffers from dementia, but remembers her love of music. She recently went viral on TikTok with her performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in 2019. Elaine says “I don’t know that” before she turns to play the third movement from Beethoven’s famous piece. Lebar played at a nursing home in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts while her daughter Randy Lebar was recording.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Randi said that this year she was unable to visit her mother for several months. When she was finally able to visit again, she posted a video of Elaine playing on TikTok “to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s dementia and the impact pandemic-related restrictions have on this population and their families.” Soon, according to Lebar, requests began to arrive. One of them was for the Moonlight Sonata, which she remembered she had recorded in 2019. “I didn’t expect this to go viral, but here we are,” Randy said. “My mom, a professional musician, has severe dementia, but life at the piano makes sense for her.”
