IRELAND’S only ensemble of disabled young musicians are gearing up their inaugural performance this weekend.
The Open Youth Orchestra of Ireland (OYOI) was formed last year to give some of the country’s most talented young disabled musicians the chance to shine on stage.
And this Sunday, the 20-member orchestra will perform at the Athlone Institute of Technology for the first time.
Those who are taking part in the orchestra will include musicians with Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy.
However, conductor of the orchestra, Shaun Healy, 24, from Derry, says being part of the ensemble has allowed him to forget about his disability.
‘SHINE AND GROW’
He said: “Music is so great for someone who has special needs. It gives them freedom to achieve a lot and to get themselves heard.
“It really helped me because I used to have anxiety. It was a saviour, it brought me out of my dark tunnel that I was in, it helped me to shine and grow.
“It helps me to believe in myself more, I’m not a person that has an anxiety monster anymore, I am a human being and I can achieve a lot.”
‘BOOST NEVER FELT BEFORE’
Shaun was born with Global Development Delay which is usually defined as a person being diagnosed with having a lower intellectual functioning than what is perceived as ‘normal’.
Before he was introduced to music, Shaun says he had no other hobbies and would often find himself in a ‘dark tunnel’.
However, when he met Dr Denise White, a pioneering music educator from Ulster University, everything changed.
He said: “Denise got me into music and now it’s a big part of my life. I didn’t have any hobbies before, music gave me a boost I never felt before.
“Now, I’m always trying to encourage more people to get into music, because it can help people with all kinds of problems.”
SMASHING BARRIERS
Shaun has been working with Dr White to create a system called Condoctology, which acts like sheet music for typical orchestras so that if musicians are rehearsing individually, the method acts as a playing prompt.
Since the OYOI is made up for musicians from all four provinces, the system allows them to collaborate together despite not being able to practise together at once.
Dr White said: “Conductology enables everyone to truly participate in high-quality music-making and enables us to work with musicians who were previously prevented from creativity and expression.
“Music performance has not been as open and inclusive as it should be over the generations and now that we are in a position to change that, we can watch as the OYOI smashes barriers.”
ORIGINS
The OYOI was created by the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) after the organisation realized that disabled musicians had no platform to show off their talent.
Given that one in seven people in Ireland have a disability, RIAM Director Deborah Kelleher said she worried that disabled musicians were missing out on the chance to show off their creative skills.
She said: “This led us to wonder how many people are prevented from making music, sharing music and expressing their art.
“Music is so inclusive and modern technology so enabling that it made us determined to break down this frontier – effectively helping to democratise creativity.
“The response has been both affirming and inspiring and the musicians have created some beautiful work”.
BIG PERFORMANCE
The orchestra has been partially funded by Avolon, the global aircraft leasing firm, which will enable the OYOI to have a permanent home in the €20 redeveloped RIAM campus on Westland Row in Dublin.
At this Sunday’s performance, the group will be playing their own music, some of which will be composed and improvised.
And musicians will be playing a mixture of conventional instruments and technology-based tools, using tablets and even mobile phones.
Shaun added: “We have a big performance on Thursday, were practising all week and the concert is on Sunday, it’s going to be great to get on stage.
“We all come up with all different sounds as a group and its so great to hear it all come together.”
