When COVID-19 halted a Minnesota musician’s performances at a local senior community, she took a hard look at her options–and her eyes landed on the parking lot. Now, she’s hooked up her electric violin 70 times there to provide music and relaxation to the community’s elderly residents.

Natalie Vanburkleo-Carbonara has played her violin at the senior community since 2011. And she knew from experience how much those concerts meant to the people who lived there, one of whom is her 93-year-old grandmother. When COVID hit, she knew she couldn’t just stop playing, and the parking lot provided the perfect answer. She hooks up her electric violin and offers her music from there, walking all the way around the building so residents on all sides can open windows or venture onto their balconies to listen, and most do with great enthusiasm.

Vanburkleo-Carbonara says seeing residents open their doors to come outside and listen the first time was “kind of a goosebumps moment,” and she now plays from the parking lot at 12 different senior communities, whose residents are more isolated than any other demographic during the pandemic.

Cheers for ingenuity, beautiful music, and, of course, the parking lot! Read the whole story here.