From the Christian Science Monitor:

Finnish music teacher, Markku Kaikkonen (left), is seeking to create a “cultural revolution” as the director of an adaptive music program by bringing often marginalized people with intellectual disabilities to center stage.

The Special Music Center Resonaari in Helsinki serves about 170 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities each week. Directors have brought out the students’ talents by developing a streamlined system of musical notation that uses colors and symbols.

… [Kaikkonen says his students] challenge people’s notions of who can be a musician … “People are coming because the music is so good. For the audience, it is the moment when they start to think [about] the power of these people.” Maybe they look a bit different, but what the audience finds isn’t a needy person. It’s a “person who is as talented as anybody.”

(Photo from Christian Science Monitor)

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, arts/music, intellectual/developmental disabilities, international, public attitudes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.