PEOPLE: Almost 46, a gifted musician with cognitive impairments will set out on her own.

January 7, 2001

WILLIAMS SYNDROME •Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that causes medical and developmental problems. It occurs in about one of every 20,000 births. •Williams people have an average IQ of 60, classifying them as mildly to moderately retarded. But many have rich vocabularies, a mysteriously acute musicality and perfect pitch. •Most Williams syndrome people have similar facial features: a small upturned nose, full lips, small chin and puffiness around the eyes. •Individuals with Williams syndrome are missing genetic material on chromosome 7, including the gene that makes the protein elastin, which provides strength and elasticity to vessel walls. More information: •The Williams Syndrome Foundation, http://www.wsf.org/. •The William Syndrome Association, http://www.williams-syndrome.org/. • The Berkshire Hills Music Academy, http://www.berkshirehills.org/. •The Infinite Mind, http://www.LCMEDIA.com/ williams.htm

By TERI SFORZA
The Orange County Register

His baby girl will be 46 years old soon. She can't make change for a dollar. Or add 5 and 6 correctly. With an IQ of 65, she can't judge distances well enough to cross the street alone.

She can't read music, either, but she's an operatic soprano who can sing Schubert pieces 12 minutes long, in German, entirely from memory. "Daddy," she still calls him, with a tender softness in her voice. He has been her benefactor, her protector, her manager, as well as her father. And now, after all these years, she's about to leave home for good.

"It's an amazing thing, that now, at our age, our daughter is going to be independent," said Howard Lenhoff, 71, of Costa Mesa, the father of Gloria Lenhoff - musical wonder woman, and musical mystery.

"I'm not nervous at all," Gloria said. "I'm really, really happy."

Gloria has Williams syndrome, a rare condition caused by the loss of a tiny piece of genetic material from chromosome 7. Williams people share an uncanny number of characteristics, in addition to a strikingly intense love of music: They look like the pixies you see in children's storybooks. They have acutely sensitive hearing. They often have heart problems. They speak with remarkably rich vocabularies and are so universally warm, compassionate and outgoing that they're said to possess "cocktail-party" personalities.

But they need care, and Howard Lenhoff, a retired biology professor at the University of California, Irvine, and his wife, Sylvia, have always provided meticulous attention for Gloria. They made sure her handicaps never stood in the way of her incredible musical gifts, which include a rich operatic soprano, a jaunty way with the accordion and a musical memory that allowed her to memorize more than 2,000 songs in 28 different languages.

The Lenhoffs' big worry has always been: What will happen to Gloria after they're gone?

They breathe easier now that the plans have been laid.

This month, Gloria will leave Orange County and relocate to The Baddour Center in Senatobia, Miss., home to 180 people with mild to moderate mental retardation. It's a community sprawled across 120 rolling green acres, associated with the United Methodist Church. Its big attraction for Gloria: a traveling choir called The Miracles that is on the road 30 weekends a year, touring America and logging thousands of miles.

"I saw a video about it and I said, 'Daddy, that's it. I want to go there. I want to live there,' " Gloria said.

She gave it a trial run in October, and it was everything she hoped for.

"I love it," Gloria said. "It's really neat, and I have a nice roommate, and I have a lot of friends, and I enjoy being with The Miracles."

Indeed. In November, Gloria was the featured soloist when The Miracles performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

"I've been practicing a lot," she said. "I learned seven new songs before I went to Baddour."

Gloria's musical goodbye to Orange County will be at 6 p.m. Friday at Congregation B'nai Israel in Tustin, where she'll chant part of the Friday evening religious services.

Gloria's father is confident that she will be well taken care of in Mississippi, and that her musical gifts will continue to mature. She'll keep getting private music lessons in voice and accordion, in addition to the work she'll do with The Miracles.

The Miracles sing mostly religious music - Christian religious music. Gloria is Jewish.

"It's not a problem with her to sing the praise of Jesus, and she's sincere about it," Lenhoff said.

The Lenhoffs are selling their Costa Mesa home and will buy a condominium in Mississippi so they can spend the winters close to Gloria. They'll spend summers in the Northern California town of Crescent City.

There have been other major milestones in the Lenhoffs' lives. They've been working for years trying to raise enough money to open a bona fide music academy for mentally impaired people. In October, Gloria sang at a benefit concert in Boston with two members of the rock group Aerosmith, which raised about $1 million. In the fall, the academy will finally become reality.

"It's a dream come true," said Lenhoff.

The Berkshire Hills Music Academy will be located in South Hadley, Mass., and is scheduled to accept its first students in September. It will be the first institution in America dedicated to the musicianship of cognitively impaired people.

Its two-year certificate program will enroll about 25 students each year. In addition to music, they'll learn skills to live independent lives. Tuition and other costs will total about $25,000 a year, but scholarships will be available, said Berkshire spokeswoman Sharon Libera.

"We're going to offer people who have talent the opportunity and encouragement to pursue their dreams."

The school will work to place its students with day-care centers, nursing homes and other places where their music can do good after they graduate.

"I am professionally and personally excited about the opportunities that the Berkshire Hills Music Academy will offer these young adults who have a wealth of talent and ability to share," said Greg A. Williams, Berkshire's dean of studies.

Lenhoff is on its academic advisory board, and Gloria will continue to do concerts to raise money for it.

But Gloria won't be attending, since the academy is geared for the college-age crowd. But she's had a busy year, singing in Vermont, in Spain, in San Diego and in Washington D.C., and is now preparing for her big move to the deep South.

"I'd like to say thank you to everyone in Orange County for being so friendly and so loving and so caring, and for giving me the support when I needed it," Gloria said. "Thank you. Thanks for helping me. I love you all."

Copyright 2000 The Orange County Register
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