KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When Narem Palomino Pardo isn’t studying for his master’s at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, performing with the UMKC Conservatory Wind Symphony or practicing the piano, you might find him in an unusual position: doing yoga with people nearly three times his age.

Palomino Pardo now lives at Claridge Court in Prairie Village, a retirement community. He lived in Kansas City for three years after moving here in 2022 for UMKC’s masters of music program. The 31-year-old Cochabamba, Bolivia, native is the third student to call Claridge Court home. It’s part of an agreement between the university and the senior living home to have a student live there for a year with full expenses paid in exchange for one concert a month.

It’s an idea that came from a former Lifespace Communities residency in Des Moines, Iowa, where an intern from Baker University lived with the community for a year, Claridge Court resident Charles Horner said. The home’s CEO, Jesse Jantzen, was interested in bringing that to this community, and through connections from Charles Horner and his wife, Mary Kay, at the UMKC Conservatory, they made it happen.

While he’s only contractually obligated to perform once a month, Palomino Pardo can be seen and heard tickling the ivories nearly every day to the delight of the residents, in addition to eating, hanging out and sharing quality time with them when his schedule allows him to.

Piano inspirations

Coming from a family of engineers, Palomino Pardo thought he’d travel on the same path. Instead, he was drawn to a different science — music.

He started taking piano lessons when he was 10 years old and started teaching others at the Academia Nacional de Música Man Césped in his hometown. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of Arkansas in 2022 and his professors recommended he apply to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for their master’s program.

“Music chose me,” Palomino Pardo said. “My life was going through that path without even realizing. I realized that for me, it’s very important; this idea of music is service and music is communication. So that’s why I think this program fits perfectly with those goals that I have in mind.”

The songs he plays on the piano in the second floor lobby aren’t original works, mostly focusing on classical works. At a small jam session this fall, he put his own spin on the 19th-century English lullaby, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

He’ll also take requests from his neighbors and figure out how to play it on the fly, looking at sheet music on his iPad. He recently played “Misty,” a jazz piece composed by pianist Erroll Garner in 1959, which has been covered by singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Stevens and most recently, Laufey.

A lot of the residents sitting around him started singing and told them that was the song they danced to with their spouses during their first dance at their wedding.

“It’s really cool to see how music can connect us through generations,” Palomino Pardo said.

A joy to be around

The Horners and fellow residents Pat Feltman and Linda Jenson all couldn’t believe how charming and extroverted Palomino Pardo was upon immediately meeting him. They said he takes the time to ask everyone how their days have been, if they need help with anything and most importantly, remembers everyone’s names.

Palomino Pardo told everyone that he didn’t have a piano growing up, and learned to play on an electronic keyboard that was missing an octave. The first time he played on a real piano was at the University of Arkansas as an undergrad in 2018.

New Claridge Court resident Sharen Diegelman had a piano that she couldn’t figure out what to do with as she was moving from her home to the retirement community. She didn’t want to get rid of it, since it reminded her of her late husband and their attempts to learn how to play piano in the 1990s.

She learned of Palomino Pardo’s need for his own piano to practice outside of school and in the lobby. After hearing him play, she knew it landed in the right hands.

“He played it the way it should be played and I cried,” Diegelman said. “I was so happy that he could have it in his room.”

The residents also recalled a time Palomino Pardo brought his home country to them to honor the 200 years of independence. With no Bolivian restaurants in the area, Palomino Pardo worked with the chefs at Claridge Court to treat the residents with meals he would eat. He created a history lesson, decorated the halls with Bolivian colors and played a show full of Bolivian music.

“You couldn’t have bought anything like that anywhere in Kansas City, and if you could have, it would have been a very high price,” Mary Kay Horner said. “That was our evening, and it was fabulous.”

They’re enjoying the time they get to spend with Palomino Pardo and counting him among the many grandchildren they have within their respective families. You can never have too many grandparents to bring joy, like he does to Claridge Court every day.