ORLANDO, Fla. — Sometimes it’s the melody, or perhaps it’s the words themselves which evoke emotion.
But, whatever it is, all Nainika Teegavarapu knows is that she has seen the power of music firsthand. She believes that it can change lives.
“It invokes feelings of happiness, excitement, joy, grief, remorse. And so, I think it’s really important that our audience gets to experience these kinds of emotions,” the teenager said.
Teegavarapu started the nonprofit Med.Olies, rifting off the word “melodies,” centered around the benefits of music. The students involved in her group perform on the piano and sing for preschoolers and senior citizens, like Loretta Arnett who lives at Vitality Living Lake Forest, each month.
“I love those kids. I really do. I look forward to them coming here,” Arnett said. “I think it’s amazing that they want to come to sing for us because it helps us to, as a group, entertain us and gives us a look at how young people are now performing.”
For Teegavarapu, a trip abroad to India in 2024 was the catalyst for this project.
“My friends and I actually performed at a school for autistic children, and we were just performing there and we were just so inspired and moved by how music can bridge so many people together,” she explained.
Now back in Central Florida, Teegavarapu corrals about two dozen other performers from Seminole County schools to stop by nursing homes, like the one in which Arnett has lived in Sanford for the past 2-1/2 years, leaning into jazz music and show tunes.
“We like to get their recommendations as well so that’s how we can kind of fine-tune our future performances to make sure that not only are we sharing our music with the world but also that they like the music in the first place,” the high school junior said.
And as she eyes her own future, Teegavarapu knows that the organization will continue to play a pivotal role. In the short term, she said she is hoping to expand her outreach and perhaps include middle schoolers in the performance program.
“This is definitely something that I want to continue in college as well. I love this organization with my entire heart,” she said, continuing, “And I think it’s really possible.”