92-year-old Massachusetts woman with dementia performs Beethovens Moonlight Sonata on piano – WABC-TV

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. — A 92-year-old pianist is wowing her audience. Elaine Lebar suffers from dementia but remembers her love for music.

She recently went viral on TikTok with a performance of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ in 2019.

Elaine says, “I don’t know it,” before she turns to play the third movement from Beethoven’s famous work.

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Lebar was playing at a senior living community in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts while her daughter Randi Lebar recorded.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Randi said she was unable to visit her mother for several months this year. When she was finally able to visit again, she posted a video to TikTok of Elaine’s playing, “with the goal of raising awareness about Alzheimer’s dementia and the effect of the pandemic restrictions on this population and their families.”

Soon, Lebar said requests were coming in. One was for the ‘Moonlight Sonata,’ which she remembered she had recorded in 2019.

“I did not anticipate that it would go viral but here we are,” Randi said. “My mom, a professional musician, has significant dementia, but life makes sense to her at the piano.”