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University of Missouri-Kansas City graduate student Naren Palomino-Pardo serves as the student in residence at Claridge Court, a senior living community in Prairie Village.
He has a unique job there. He provides monthly concerts in exchange for free housing while completing his master's degree.
"Each year, they choose a grad student to come and live with the residents, be part of the community. This year, I'm the student in residence," Palomino-Pardo said.
The arrangement helps Palomino-Pardo stress less about finances.
"I'm from Bolivia," Palomino-Pardo said. "As an international student, of course, there's a lot of struggle with getting to the end of the month. So getting the chance to live here [for] free, it's tremendously helpful."
However, he says the real reward comes from the relationships he's built with residents.
"It really moves me, how they can connect with my music, even when we have so many decades apart," Palomino-Pardo said.
The feeling is mutual among residents like Pat Feltman, who appreciates how the young musician has integrated into their community.
"I mean, he just, he knows all of our names,” Feltman said. “I brag about them to my friends who live elsewhere, and this is what we have, because this is so special."
For Palomino-Pardo, the residents have become like family.
"I feel that I have way too many grandparents now," he said.
His music is moving for the residents who get to hear him play. Mary Kay Horner couldn't help but tap her hand.
"It's a habit," Horner said.
UMKC has placed a different student musician at Claridge Court each year for the past three years. Palomino-Pardo is grateful it’s him this year.
"They're like the perfect audience because they listen with all their hearts," he said.
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