Conference My Music Ability 2
Artist in Residence Drake Music Scotland
From November 10 to 13, 2021, The Music in Education Department hosted a conference with Drake Music Scotland as a special guest. Artistic director Pete Sparkes and Drake musician Ali Gillies provided a three-day workshop programme in which eleven undergraduate and graduate students from the Music in Education, Jazz and Classical departments participated. Together with guest musician Karin van Dijk of My Breath My Music, they formed an inclusive ensemble.
During the workshops, students delved into various music didactic strategies and artistic concepts that can be employed in inclusive ensembles. Ideas around 'dis'abilty and inclusivity were thoroughly examined: students were introduced to the ‘social versus the medical model of disability’ and were stimulated to think about music, musicianship and what an instrument actually is. They learned what is involved in working with an inclusive ensemble, from setting it up to carrying out a project.
Experimenting with the programme ThumbJam. Photos by Edoland
Pete Sparkes working with students
The students worked primarily with iPads and the programme ThumbJam. The iPad is the main instrument in the Digital Orchestra (the world's first youth orchestra for young people with disabilities, founded by Drake Music Scotland in 2016) and can be seen as an instrument that offers enormous potential to people with disabilities. The students learned to make music with the programme ThumbJam and discovered what its potential can be. They were also introduced to ‘FigureNotes’, a very accessible form of music notation.
Musician Karin van Dijk
The AIR project was presented at the My Music Ability 2 conference on 13 November with a performance by the inclusive ensemble and a reflection by the students on their experiences with the project.
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