When lifelong singer and pianist Judith Williams of Greenfield knew her mother was passing away, she turned to the Eventide Singers.
“Within 24 hours, they were at my mother’s house singing for her,” Williams recalled.
The group of 23 singers serenade individuals as they near death, along with the families and friends at their bedside. In 2025, they sang at 95 engagements, frequenting the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, RegalCare at Greenfield, Charlene Manor Extended Care in Greenfield, The Arbors at Greenfield Assisted Living and Memory Care, Greenfield Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and Rockridge and Linda Manor Assisted Living in Northampton.
Eventide Singers perform in a diverse array of languages, including Latin, French, German, Georgian, Greek, Ladino and many others, selecting tunes often in the language and religion of the dying listener. Although Music Director Joe Toritto, a retired high school religion teacher, said the group is “non-religious,” he clarified that “spirituality undergirds the work.” For Williams’ mother, they sang Thuma Mina, or “Send Me” in isiZulu, a South African hymn.
“It was really cathartic for me, for my brother and probably everybody in the room,” Williams said.
She remembered her hand on her mother’s chest and her mother’s heartbeat slowing with the music.
“It was celestial, I don’t know how else to describe it,” Williams said. “It brought us all into the space that my mother was in on her way to another plane.”
Williams followed the singers out the door, eager to express her gratitude and interest in the group. Soon after, Toritto gave Williams a ring.
“The whole feeling of the group was one of absolute seriousness combined with levity, so that we were able to laugh and understand as a group the cosmic nature of our mission — it’s not only heavy, it’s not only light, it’s this real combination of all these human qualities,” Williams said. ” I just felt like I was home.”
Now, 15 years since Williams sang her first tune with Eventide Singers, the group is hosting its annual concert on March 22, featuring nine pieces that Williams either transcribed, arranged or composed. The singing will start at 3 p.m. in the Second Congregational Church in Greenfield
The vocalists will perform 20 songs a cappella and speakers will share memories of the group’s work to take the audience into the private rooms of those who listen to Eventide Singers as they draw closer to death.
Swapping stories of memorable performances during a group sing at former Eventide singer Judith Truesdell’s home, bass singer John Yannis described performing “Goodnight Irene” to a man with severely impaired hearing. According to Toritto, the group selects songs likely to coax memories from the listeners’ childhoods.
“We sang at the top of our lungs, we never sang that loud, and sure enough, he was able to hear it and he started singing,” Yannis said with a grin.
“The staff was so happy that we broke through,” Toritto remembered.
Alto Cheryl Termo told the group that when she joined, she grappled with ideas of death, searching for answers in their performances, “exploring the mystery, so to speak.” Finally, one came when a dying woman reached for Termo’s hand during a song.
“I took her hand, and it was very potent,” Termo said. “It was very electric, emotional, and it also made me see that it doesn’t matter what I think — that moment is what mattered. I think that happens a lot when we’re singing, there are moments that vibrate with us — the goosebump moments — and I believe it’s vibrating with the people. Inside, the people are singing, whether they’re awake or asleep.”
Along with touch, hearing is the last sense to leave when individuals pass away. When Eventide performs, many listeners remain still or asleep, while others tap their toes or wiggle their feet under a blanket. Some even speak after months of silence or stand up after weeks of not moving on their own, the seven singers recalled.
“It touches an area of their brain or their soul that can’t be touched in any other way,” soprano Nancy Blickenstaff said of the music.
Instead of avoiding the topic of death, the group of 23 vocalists observe it. During one performance, a woman passed away during a song. At another, a daughter and son stood on either side of their father’s wheelchair, clutching each other’s hands.
“It was very difficult to not be overcome by the beauty of their love,” Blickenstaff said.
“Whether we’ve learned to be more comfortable with our own deaths, I don’t know, but we have definitely witnessed good deaths,” the soprano said, describing regular listeners planning their own memorial services with their families. “They have found peace in their journey, and you can see that they have.”
“We’re pretty honored to be part of that,” Termo added.
Toritto said the group often forms relationships with its regular listeners, singing to them as they age and absorb the music.
“Watching them, they know how to die,” Toritto said. “They’re teaching me how to be present and really be there in their own death, rather than running from it.”