Arlene (Karp) Symons of Great Barrington came to the end of her life on Friday, July 7, at the age of 85. She and her husband Michael were married for 65 years.
Arlene was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. Music was the soundtrack of her life. She was a piano prodigy from a young age. At age four, she performed on the radio. She attended the former High School of Performing Arts, winning a city-wide contest as the best high school musician in the New York metropolitan area during her senior year.
Music led Arlene to Michael, whom she met in the folk song club at Brooklyn College. She liked to tease Michael that she was captivated by his leadership of the group, but not so much with his musical ability.
Arlene went on to a long career in education—first, as a public elementary school teacher, then later as a music teacher at the Brooklyn Friends School, and finally as the Director of Admissions at the Berkeley Carroll School, also in Brooklyn.
Arlene’s passion was in the power of music to connect generations. She was a pioneer in the concept of the intergenerational chorus, bringing together school-age children with seniors to not only make music together, but for young people to learn about the lives of older adults, and for seniors to see the world through the eyes of the next generations. Arlene created community through music.
It was at the Brooklyn Friends School in the early 1980s that one parent, a documentary filmmaker, saw first-hand the power of the intergenerational chorus. He documented the experience in “Close Harmony,” which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary of 1981.
Summer camp was another avenue for Arlene and Michael’s passion for children and education, most notably at the former Camp Trywoodie in Hyde Park, N.Y. from 1964 to 1985, where Arlene’s musical theater productions were famous. Arlene and Michael made many lifelong friends at camp.
Arlene leaves behind her husband, Michael; her sons, Jonathan and wife Suzy of Concord, Mass. and Joseph and partner Nikolay of New York City; and her three grandchildren, Caleb, Hannah, and Sarah. Arlene was blessed to live long enough to see each of her grandchildren become young adults.
The funeral service for Arlene Symone will be held on Monday, July 10, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. at Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home in Great Barrington. Burial will follow at Ahavath Sholom Cemetery in Great Barrington.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to HospiceCare in the Berkshires or Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A beautiful summer night on the lawn at Tanglewood was magic to Arlene. Donations may be sent in care of Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. To send remembrances to her family, please visit the funeral home’s website.
