Jay Landers, Director of Development for the past 2 years at Brother James Court, a residential intermediate care facility for 98 intellectually disabled men in Springfield, IL, donates his musical services to monthly in-house events (23 consecutive birthday and Christmas parties), as well as the Annual Family Picnic and the Chili Cook Off.

He is often joined by his wife, Pat, who sings and plays the penny whistle in their Celtic performances.  Jay also co-produced a CD in 2009 with one of the residents of BJC who sings Beatles’ tunes. Jay and Pat have donated their music to 7 consecutive Festival of Trees events (2004-2010), which raises money for programming funded by the Memorial Medical Center Foundation in Springfield. 

On January 29, they’ll travel to Poplar Grove, IL, to perform for a benefit in support of a local war veteran.  They performed at a benefit in January, 2008, for the infant son of a co-worker of Pat’s who was born with many physical challenges.

Most of Jay’s 38-year career has been in the non-profit sector, starting with 23 years in public radio FM station management at 4 state universities; a community arts organization; 2 national voluntary health organizations and he is currently Director of Development for Brother James Court. Jay plays a 2-hour program at Brother James Court every month for their birthday party after regular business hours.

Jay and his wife, Pat who plays tin whistle and sings, have performed authentic Celtic music since 1983 as a duo called Donnybrook. Jay and Pat made a CD in 2008, called “Smiling Eyes” dedicated to their late son, Ryan. Jay recorded a solo CD in 2003.

To learn more about Jay, please refer to the November 2009 www.accordionusa.com news. The article is called : Jay Landers: Accordion Activity From Illinois: Abridged Version.

For further information: jllanders5214@msn.com or call 217-899-9157