AIRS 3rd Annual Meeting: 2013 Title: Songs of their lives: Similarities in interviews with elders about singing and songs Authors: Eun Cho (Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California), Lisa A. Crawford (Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California), Beatriz Ilari (Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California) Abstract In spite of the many claims regarding the prominence and importance of music in the daily lives of the elderly (Hays & Minichello, 2005a, 2005b; Gibbons, 1985; Gilbert & Beal, 1982), less attention has been paid to discussing songs sung by elderly people from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds or the origins of such choices. As one of the largest metropolitan cities in the United States, Los Angeles is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking 224 different identified languages (Myers, et al., 2010). Using a researcher-developed interview protocol, songs and singing practices of Hispanic, Korean, and Anglo Angelino elders (over the age of 65) were documented. All of the interviews were recorded or videotaped and most interviewees sang at least one song when prompted. Interviews included questions regarding biographical information, memories about songs and singing practices during childhood and adolescent years, immigrant experiences, and impressions of singing as elders. Findings suggest that elders openly shared many of their thoughts and beliefs about singing as elders and had a much easier time remembering song titles if invited to write them down following the interview. Many similarities across cultures were found, including the existence of few traditional ideas about elders' singing practices, pride in the music of their own culture coupled with love of American songs, and little (if any) singing interaction with family or friends as elders. A complete analysis of the data will be provided at the conference, along with implications for both research and practice.