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♪ Opening theme music ♪

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Hello, and welcome to this episode
of ArtsAbly in Conversation.

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My name is Diane Kolin.

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This series presents artists, academics,
and project leaders who dedicate their

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time and energy to a better accessibility
for people with disabilities in the arts.

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You can find more of these conversations
on our website, artsably.com,

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which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com.

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♪ Theme music ♪

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Today, ArtsAbly is in conversation with
Julia LaGrand, a classical violinist

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from Grand Rapids in Michigan.

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You can find the resources mentioned by
Julia LaGrand during this episode 

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on ArtsAbly's website 
in the blog section.

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♪ [Violin Partita No.1 in B minor, BWV 1002
Double (Sarabande) - Johann Sebastian Bach] ♪

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 ♪ [End of the excerpt.] ♪

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Welcome to this new episode
of ArtsAbly in Conversation.

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Today, I am with Julia LaGrand,
who is a classical violinist

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from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Welcome Julia.

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Hello.
It's so lovely to be here.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you for being here with us today.

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Okay, so you have a lot of things

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related to advocacy for young musicians,

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for specifically, young classical
musicians with disabilities.

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Before talking about that,
I wanted to know a little bit about you,

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how you started in your musical journey,
what triggered the fact

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that you started violin and everything
that happened at the very beginning.

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Awesome. So, I have been 
playing violin  for most of my life.

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I started when I was five years
old, really just because my mom

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asked me if I would be interested.

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She wanted to help give me

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a social space that might be less

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bound by normative communication.

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I think it can be hard for
some blind children to fit in

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with sighted peers or to feel feel
like they fit in with sighted peers.

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She wanted to really give me
a clear space where music was central.

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She hoped that in that space,
my disability would be a bit less central

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to how people perceived me.

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It also, I think, just gave me a great 
other way to communicate beyond

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the daily, our typical standard 
ways of communicating, 

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communicating through music, making friendships 
through music, playing with other people.

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All of those things are so
central, and I think were so 

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helpful to me as a young person.

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I didn't take it super
seriously for many years.

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It was a lot of practicing 

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when my mom told me to and not really 
having a ton of motivation to do it myself.

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But eventually, as I grew up and matured,
I realized that I really, really

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loved it, and that I wanted to spend
the rest of my life pursuing music.

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Very nice.

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Are you using Braille music 
to learn your music?

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My journey and exploration
of accessible formats has definitely

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been a bit on the complicated side, and
I think I'm still in the middle of it.

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I started with the Suzuki method,

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where everyone learns by ear.

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So that premise of that method is
that that for the first year or so,

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no one is using printed notation,
which is part of the reason why it seemed like 

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such a good fit for me to start
there, because my parents weren't

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super aware of what notation might
be available to me as a blind person.

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So I then kept going by ear

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much longer than my sighted peers.

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And I learned a bit of Braille music
when I was nine 10, but I didn't fully

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commit to incorporating it into my music.

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I worked on piano pieces
that way, partly because I was

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just so much less advanced on the piano.

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I took piano lessons very sporadically.

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So the music was not very complex,
which made it easier to read in braille.

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And also I could read with one hand
and play one hand on the piano.

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So I was able to read
and play at the same time.

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And one of the things that can be
a bit complicated about Braille music as

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a violinist is that I have to memorize
everything before I can put it

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on the violin because it takes
hands to read braille,

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and it takes two hands to play the violin.

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So in that case, in that instance,

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Braille music kind of fell off for me.

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I then rediscovered it during
my sophomore year of high school

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when I had too much time on my hands
in the pandemic, and so I decided

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to dig into Braille music again.

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I definitely pursued it further

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to the point where I do feel comfortable

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reading it, and I use it for some things.

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I use it for reference, definitely,
to get more details about a score.

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I just finished one year of Conservatory
at the New England Conservatory of Music,

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and it was extremely helpful
to have that in my solfege classes

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where the emphasis is on sight-singing

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and it was useful to have in chorus,

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these places where you do so much singing

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that I could read the music
and sing at the same time because

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my hands were not required for the music
making in those instances.

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I found Braille music super helpful there.

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I think that as I get more comfortable
with Braille music,

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as I continue to integrate it more
in my life, I will use it more.

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But I also do really love using
various other formats.

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I do a lot of listening to recordings, but
I also do work with computerized files

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so that I can get a more objective look
at the music, which is something

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that Braille allows me to do as well.

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But to really perceive
the exact duration of every note,

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the exact markings that the composer had,
that's all available in different

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accessible formats on the computer,
so I can scroll character by character,

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hear the note,
and hear various attributes.

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But I can also then hear larger phrases
in MIDI output and things like that.

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So that's a bit of a long
answer, but my journey is always

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evolving in that direction.

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I love long answers.

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I wanted to know, what software
are you using for your digital files?

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At this point, I am using the Dancing Dots Suite mostly.

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That has the Lime Aloud component.

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That is where I'm getting
a lot of the MIDI output, so I can

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have it play phrases or chunks.

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But then I can also in Lime Aloud
scroll, and it will read the attributes

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of each note, as I mentioned,
and If I hook up a Braille display, 

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Lime Aloud also allows me to 

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view those same measures 
in Braille as I scroll through them.

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Part of that suite is also Goodfeel, 
which allows me to transcribe

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the whole thing into Braille,
which is a really helpful tool

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to get quick Braille transcription.

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But I tend to gravitate more
towards Lime Aloud so that

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I can have the Braille and the audio
at the same time, because I personally

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find that a faster workflow for me.

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But it's a very personal thing, of course.

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There are lots of different softwares
that other blind people use to access

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their music in tons of creative ways.

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When you need a new score,
where do you go?

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That's always a bit complicated.

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Musescore.org has a lot of 
open source XML files

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because I can access very well

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these music XML files through Lime Aloud.

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And so there are a lot of those available,
particularly for the kinds of

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very canonical public domain
classical pieces that I'm playing.

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A fair number of those are available.

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But transcription services
are also very useful, whether

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that's in refining the Braille output.

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I do use transcription for that because
the automatic Braille is super helpful,

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but it can be good to get a
slightly more accurate picture with

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a professional transcribers take on it.

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But also, part

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of the dancing dots suite is a scanner.

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One can scan music into basically

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PDF format and then convert it into XML.

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Now, there tends to be still quite
a few errors depending on the quality

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of the music, how clear it is, it can be

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varying degrees of difficult for the
computer to understand what's going on.

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It's still pretty important to have
someone sighted proofing the XML file

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to make sure that everything on the page
was captured in that conversion process.

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Then once I have it in an XML,
I can use it in Lime Aloud, or I can also

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get a more accurate Braille
transcription, as I mentioned.

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When you were a student,
or you are currently a student,

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I was wondering about the efforts

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it might have taken to receive the amount

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of accommodation that you need.

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Did you work with teachers saying,

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Well, I need this specific format,

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or let's figure out another way
to play together or to learn.

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What was the amount of effort
you had to put on that?

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I would say that the greatest amount

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of effort I have had to put in

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is figuring out how to communicate
my needs clearly and effectively.

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This is something I've thought a lot
about because I did lots of programs

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for blind high schoolers
geared towards getting people ready

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to do a self-advocacy in college.

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It was always something I didn't
feel particularly jaunted by.

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I felt that I understood my needs.

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I knew how to communicate,
and I felt like I had it under control.

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But I think music felt like

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a very different way to approach

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that self-advocacy question, because
at least in my case, I didn't really

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have experience taking pretty much
any of the classes I needed to take.

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It wasn't like I was taking
a more advanced math class

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or a more advanced science class.

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I didn't have music theory instruction
in my high school or anything like that.

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So as I did my freshman year at New
England Conservatory, I really felt like

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I didn't have as good of a sense of my
needs as I would have wanted to, because

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I had never been in those situations.

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And so I think a lot of my self-advocacy

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was experimentation, and then learning

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how to really effectively communicate
the results of my experimentation.

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And I think like every situation,
there's going to be mixed inputs.

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There were teachers who were very willing

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to work with me, but a lot of them didn't

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have much experience working
with a blind musician or had experience

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working with blind musicians
who had very different sets of needs.

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I am someone who doesn't
want to do just everything by ear

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and so that was definitely different
for even the teachers who had worked

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with blind musicians in the past.

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And so there's definitely a range of,
these are my needs, 

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even though they might not be the same as the needs 
of the blind students who have come before me.

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And so that, I think, is also
a bit of a tricky question, right?

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Articulating that all blind people
are different, just like

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all people are different,
and we all have different needs.

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And so that was a layer.

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And then, yeah, I think it's just a matter
of the perceptions, too, that people

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have around what blind musicians
should or would want to access.

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There are definitely lots of biases

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towards the supremacy of visual notation.

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So I've heard definitely concerns

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that Braille music lacks things

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that visual notation conveys.

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And that has been something interesting
to work through in this space

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of accommodations, too, is I understand

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that I am accessing things in a

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very different way than my sighted appears.

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And sometimes that does look
like audio, sometimes that does look

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like Braille notation.

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And so it's a matter of not only
understanding my needs, but me feeling

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comfortable with the fact that I will be
doing things a bit differently and I will

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be bringing things together creatively.

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I think that's almost as important
as knowing my needs is feeling confident

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in the way I approach things
and feeling that I don't have to justify

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my access to music at every turn.

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Plus, there is the fact that even

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if you read visually the score, 

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well, sorry, but the notation
is not all about the music.

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You also have to put your own personality
in the way you are performing your music.

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If the piano, fortissimo notation,

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whatever, the crescendo notation

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is something you can feel, well,
go for it and have that integrated

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in your own personality and performance.

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Definitely.

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I think it's also such an interesting
question, too, of how you feel that

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and how you take the recordings and

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the oral traditions that have come before.

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Because there, I think there's sometimes
attitudes that one shouldn't

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listen to too many performances.
And while I totally...

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Of a piece one's working on,
and I totally think that makes sense

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to some extent, and I would never
want to copy any individual's

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interpretation of a piece, because music
is about making individual art.

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But I also think that part of making art
is understanding the context

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from which it has come and the ways
people have shaped it in the past.

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I think understanding things orally

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and understanding by listening is a

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very totally valid way to approach music.

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I don't think that's
the dominant attitude in a lot

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of spaces around classical music.

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You're right. As a musicologist, I can tell you
I love studying the different versions

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and recording how it evolved in the time.

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00:19:17,489 --> 00:19:22,294
Even the way an editor will edit the score

235
00:19:22,327 --> 00:19:26,131
is fascinating because an editor

236
00:19:26,164 --> 00:19:31,203
has the same mindset as a performer
who's going to say, Okay, the way

237
00:19:31,236 --> 00:19:36,408
I see it, the way I understand
this composer wrote it is this way.

238
00:19:36,441 --> 00:19:38,544
But that's personal.

239
00:19:38,577 --> 00:19:42,915
Yeah, I find it fascinating.

240
00:19:42,915 --> 00:19:47,886
Where are you right now in your studies?

241
00:19:47,953 --> 00:19:55,127
I did my freshman year at New England
Conservatory in Violin Performance, and I

242
00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:01,533
felt that the performance education I was
getting was fantastic, but that I wanted

243
00:20:01,567 --> 00:20:07,005
to explore a bit further and to have a
bit broader of a liberal arts education.

244
00:20:07,005 --> 00:20:10,742
I am transferring programs and

245
00:20:11,577 --> 00:20:15,647
because of the structure of the degrees,

246
00:20:15,681 --> 00:20:17,649
I will be starting over functionally.

247
00:20:17,683 --> 00:20:21,019
So I will be starting as a freshman in

248
00:20:21,053 --> 00:20:25,457
the Harvard and NEC dual degree combined

249
00:20:25,490 --> 00:20:28,927
bachelor's master's program this fall.

250
00:20:28,961 --> 00:20:30,729
Wow, that's awesome.

251
00:20:31,129 --> 00:20:33,432
Thank you.
Looking forward to it.

252
00:20:33,432 --> 00:20:36,335
Yeah, it's fantastic.

253
00:20:36,368 --> 00:20:41,673
You had a series of awards during

254
00:20:41,974 --> 00:20:45,644
the past years.

255
00:20:45,644 --> 00:20:49,448
What award did you get?

256
00:20:50,315 --> 00:20:56,188
Well, the most recent
award I have gotten was 

257
00:20:56,188 --> 00:21:00,626
I was very honored to be selected as

258
00:21:00,659 --> 00:21:06,898
a winner of the 2024 Kennedy Center's VSA,

259
00:21:06,932 --> 00:21:10,068
International Young Musicians' Competition,

260
00:21:10,102 --> 00:21:13,905
which is a program that highlights

261
00:21:13,939 --> 00:21:19,444
young musicians aged 14 to 25 with disabilities.

262
00:21:19,478 --> 00:21:23,649
I was a finalist in that last
year, and this year, I'm a winner.

263
00:21:23,682 --> 00:21:26,818
I will have the opportunity to perform 

264
00:21:26,818 --> 00:21:31,023
at the Kennedy Center, which is a wonderful gift, 

265
00:21:31,023 --> 00:21:36,995
and I am really excited
to have received this award.

266
00:21:37,029 --> 00:21:40,599
I think it's such an opportunity
to connect with disabled musicians,

267
00:21:40,632 --> 00:21:46,405
and I really do love programs
that help disabled musicians

268
00:21:46,438 --> 00:21:48,273
connect with each other.

269
00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:54,212
I've also participated in the Bella
Competition, and I won that competition

270
00:21:54,246 --> 00:21:59,317
in 2020, and that is geared towards
blind musicians more specifically.

271
00:21:59,317 --> 00:22:06,458
That was also a really great way to
connect with the other blind finalists.

272
00:22:06,491 --> 00:22:11,697
It's so exciting to form community
through awards like this.

273
00:22:11,730 --> 00:22:13,932
I think it's really lovely.

274
00:22:13,965 --> 00:22:15,467
Congratulations.
thank you.

275
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:16,335
That's pretty good.

276
00:22:16,368 --> 00:22:19,638
When are you performing
at the Kennedy Center?

277
00:22:19,671 --> 00:22:25,877
That performance is July 27.

278
00:22:25,877 --> 00:22:29,681
So after this recording,
but before this airs.

279
00:22:29,681 --> 00:22:32,517
Wow, in a few days.
That's fantastic.

280
00:22:32,517 --> 00:22:39,157
I wonder if you could talk about
a specific project project

281
00:22:39,191 --> 00:22:46,565
that you have worked on and that
was really important for your career?

282
00:22:46,565 --> 00:22:47,799
Thank you.

283
00:22:47,799 --> 00:22:54,539
I think one of the projects closest
to my heart was the work

284
00:22:54,539 --> 00:22:58,110
I did with NPR's From the Top.

285
00:22:58,143 --> 00:23:02,914
From the Top is a show 
highlighting classical musicians 

286
00:23:02,914 --> 00:23:06,184
aged 8 to 18 in the United States.

287
00:23:06,218 --> 00:23:09,154
I first appeared on the show

288
00:23:09,187 --> 00:23:13,425
in 2021 as a performer, and I was

289
00:23:13,425 --> 00:23:16,695
the first blind performer on the show and so

290
00:23:16,695 --> 00:23:20,999
it got me thinking about

291
00:23:20,999 --> 00:23:24,536
the ways in which it would be really
fascinating to have an episode

292
00:23:24,569 --> 00:23:30,742
highlighting disability,
both to let disabled musicians really

293
00:23:30,776 --> 00:23:35,313
intentionally talk about their
disabilities and to really have space

294
00:23:35,347 --> 00:23:38,817
for these disabled musicians
to talk about other things.

295
00:23:38,850 --> 00:23:43,321
Because sometimes when a performer

296
00:23:43,321 --> 00:23:47,392
with a disability comes on to any

297
00:23:47,425 --> 00:23:51,863
interview or any public appearance,
it can be really easy for the focus just

298
00:23:51,863 --> 00:23:57,035
to be on the disability because
that's a really obvious

299
00:23:57,068 --> 00:24:00,138
contributor,
or often an obvious contributor,

300
00:24:00,172 --> 00:24:02,274
to who they are as a musician.

301
00:24:02,307 --> 00:24:06,411
But for a lot of musicians,
it's a central part of them,

302
00:24:06,444 --> 00:24:10,382
but it is only one really important part
of their identity. And so

303
00:24:10,415 --> 00:24:15,353
the interview segments of this show,
because it highlights both interviews

304
00:24:15,387 --> 00:24:20,992
and performances by young musicians,
really, I thought, could be a great place

305
00:24:21,026 --> 00:24:24,863
to allow disabled musicians to 
tell their stories in the way

306
00:24:24,863 --> 00:24:26,798
they wanted them to be told.

307
00:24:26,798 --> 00:24:32,304
And so I came to From the Top 
with the idea of creating a

308
00:24:32,304 --> 00:24:38,710
specifically disability-focused episode,
and they agreed, and they really

309
00:24:38,743 --> 00:24:44,549
helped me lead the project,
which was an incredible experience.

310
00:24:44,583 --> 00:24:50,388
So I got so much knowledge just from

311
00:24:50,422 --> 00:24:53,124
working through with them the process

312
00:24:53,158 --> 00:24:58,663
of trying to recruit different people,
trying to reach out to different networks,

313
00:24:58,897 --> 00:25:05,070
that it took a while to really
figure out how to connect well and how to

314
00:25:05,103 --> 00:25:07,539
really find these musicians who...

315
00:25:07,572 --> 00:25:13,044
Because there are so many musicians
with disabilities, but so many

316
00:25:13,078 --> 00:25:15,213
of those disabilities are not apparent.

317
00:25:15,247 --> 00:25:20,919
It can be a complicated thing
to decide to be on a program

318
00:25:20,919 --> 00:25:25,123
that does highlight disability. But we...

319
00:25:25,123 --> 00:25:29,728
From the Top found just excellent, 
excellent young musicians

320
00:25:29,728 --> 00:25:32,898
to be featured on the program.

321
00:25:32,964 --> 00:25:39,170
That was just a fantastic joy to then 
be able to hear these young musicians

322
00:25:39,204 --> 00:25:43,074
to play their pieces,
to interview them, to get to know them.

323
00:25:43,108 --> 00:25:47,112
They were all just wonderful individuals.

324
00:25:47,145 --> 00:25:53,218
As part of the program, we also
did social media work that allowed an

325
00:25:53,251 --> 00:25:58,623
even greater number of disabled musicians
to highlight their talents

326
00:25:58,623 --> 00:26:02,060
because we only did one episode.

327
00:26:02,093 --> 00:26:06,064
And of course, that really only
let four young people

328
00:26:06,097 --> 00:26:09,100
get that spot in the episode.

329
00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:16,341
So the Social Media Daily Joy campaign
that From the Top puts together

330
00:26:16,374 --> 00:26:21,179
was another way for many more
disabled artists to be spotlighted.

331
00:26:21,179 --> 00:26:25,784
And so that was a program I was
really excited about to broaden.

332
00:26:25,817 --> 00:26:30,822
We also did a - In collaboration 
with the Kennedy Center,

333
00:26:30,822 --> 00:26:34,459
we put on a panel of disabled professional

334
00:26:34,459 --> 00:26:37,996
musicians as a way to really 

335
00:26:37,996 --> 00:26:43,001
continue the dialog with the 
From the Top community about 

336
00:26:43,001 --> 00:26:46,938
after being a young musician, 
transitioning into being a professional,

337
00:26:46,938 --> 00:26:49,174
because that transition can also, I think,

338
00:26:49,174 --> 00:26:53,345
feel daunting for everyone and 
for people, for musicians

339
00:26:53,345 --> 00:26:57,282
with disabilities in particular.
Those are the components of it.

340
00:26:57,315 --> 00:27:01,953
I'm so grateful that I was able
to go host the show and to lead

341
00:27:01,987 --> 00:27:06,024
that panel and just be really
involved in all of that process.

342
00:27:06,024 --> 00:27:08,159
It was an incredible experience.

343
00:27:08,159 --> 00:27:12,464
I learned so much from this episode
you recorded, you co-hosted.

344
00:27:12,497 --> 00:27:14,933
I really, really enjoyed.

345
00:27:14,966 --> 00:27:19,204
For example, Joaquín Rodrigo
is blind and you are pointing out,

346
00:27:19,237 --> 00:27:24,275
you're educating people and saying, not
a lot of people know that he's blind,

347
00:27:24,309 --> 00:27:30,882
and he was using Braille music
and his wife was transcribing it.

348
00:27:30,882 --> 00:27:35,820
But also this young 14 years old
called Tristen Chen.

349
00:27:35,820 --> 00:27:37,055
Yeah.

350
00:27:37,055 --> 00:27:39,758
He's fantastic. He's full of 
energy and things like that.

351
00:27:39,791 --> 00:27:42,260
It was really fantastic.

352
00:27:42,260 --> 00:27:46,264
But one of the parts that really
was the highlight of the episode

353
00:27:46,264 --> 00:27:49,701
was your interview with Itzhak Perlman.

354
00:27:49,734 --> 00:27:50,969
Yes, thank you.

355
00:27:51,002 --> 00:27:57,108
That was an incredible experience
for me to be able to interview him.

356
00:27:57,142 --> 00:28:01,613
He has been someone I've looked
up to for such a long time, obviously

357
00:28:01,646 --> 00:28:06,084
as just an incredible violinist,
but also someone who's taken

358
00:28:06,117 --> 00:28:08,653
disability advocacy really seriously.

359
00:28:08,653 --> 00:28:17,062
And I think that has always
served to me as a powerful example of

360
00:28:17,095 --> 00:28:21,900
how disability advocacy can be combined
with a career of performance.

361
00:28:21,933 --> 00:28:27,038
And I do remember discovering

362
00:28:27,038 --> 00:28:30,375
that Perlman was disabled.

363
00:28:30,375 --> 00:28:36,181
And to me, that was a transformative
moment because there was this person

364
00:28:36,181 --> 00:28:41,953
who, obviously, everyone looks up
as having this incredible career.

365
00:28:41,953 --> 00:28:47,358
And to learn that that person was also
disabled felt just incredibly empowering

366
00:28:47,392 --> 00:28:53,431
to me because I think I spent a long time

367
00:28:53,465 --> 00:28:56,234
feeling like there were

368
00:28:56,234 --> 00:29:00,205
not many representations of disability
in classical music,

369
00:29:00,238 --> 00:29:03,408
and I still feel that way to some extent.

370
00:29:03,441 --> 00:29:08,379
But before I found various communities

371
00:29:08,413 --> 00:29:12,117
that I'm now really a part of.

372
00:29:12,150 --> 00:29:15,520
I think Itzhak Perlman was my first 

373
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:19,591
major signifier that one could be disabled

374
00:29:19,624 --> 00:29:24,362
and do classical music at, obviously,
this just incredibly high level.

375
00:29:24,362 --> 00:29:28,867
And beyond that, I think, as I said, the

376
00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:31,736
fact that he had this career, but also

377
00:29:31,769 --> 00:29:34,439
that he took the time to be passionate

378
00:29:34,472 --> 00:29:40,311
about these advocacy concerns and that he

379
00:29:40,345 --> 00:29:43,047
prioritizes increasing access.

380
00:29:43,081 --> 00:29:47,185
I think that was also just really powerful
when I discovered that because

381
00:29:47,218 --> 00:29:51,556
that is something I have always
wanted to be part of my career as well.

382
00:29:51,589 --> 00:29:58,897
What is interesting with Itzhak Perlman
is that at the time when he was a child

383
00:29:58,930 --> 00:30:01,900
and he was discovered on TV,

384
00:30:03,301 --> 00:30:06,704
he was in the spotlight.

385
00:30:06,738 --> 00:30:12,010
But then when he developed his career and
he recorded and he collaborated with all

386
00:30:12,043 --> 00:30:17,582
these great musicians around the world.

387
00:30:17,916 --> 00:30:22,787
He was known as a recording artist
or as a performer artist.

388
00:30:22,820 --> 00:30:29,060
Actually, If you didn't go and 
attend one of the concerts,

389
00:30:29,093 --> 00:30:32,497
you had no idea that he had a disability.

390
00:30:32,530 --> 00:30:39,237
Today, we have more means of helping

391
00:30:39,270 --> 00:30:41,573
representation and presence

392
00:30:41,606 --> 00:30:45,276
of artists with disabilities
because we have internet, because

393
00:30:45,310 --> 00:30:47,946
sometimes we have TV, we have RAMPD.

394
00:30:47,979 --> 00:30:52,250
We are both part of this organization
called RAMPD, doing a fantastic job

395
00:30:52,283 --> 00:30:57,455
of just trying to highlight
the work of disabled artists.

396
00:30:57,488 --> 00:31:01,025
But in the classical world, if you didn't

397
00:31:01,059 --> 00:31:04,662
go to or look at this particular

398
00:31:04,662 --> 00:31:10,602
TV program where he was playing
or go to a concert, you had no way

399
00:31:10,635 --> 00:31:13,504
of knowing that he had a disability.

400
00:31:13,504 --> 00:31:19,277
So he started speaking about his
disability a little later in life when he

401
00:31:19,310 --> 00:31:24,616
was saying, Okay, I'm using crutches,
and I have this

402
00:31:24,649 --> 00:31:28,052
routine of giving my violin to someone
who's going to play with me,

403
00:31:28,086 --> 00:31:32,457
and then I'm going with my crutches,
and then someone is giving me the violin,

404
00:31:32,490 --> 00:31:35,994
most of the time the conductor,
or if he was playing in quartet,

405
00:31:36,027 --> 00:31:38,863
it was one of the members
of the quartet, for example.

406
00:31:38,896 --> 00:31:45,203
But really, it's like when you think
of it, at a certain point of his career,

407
00:31:45,236 --> 00:31:46,904
he said, Okay, enough is enough.

408
00:31:46,904 --> 00:31:49,841
I'm going to advocate now.

409
00:31:49,841 --> 00:31:51,509
That's fantastic.

410
00:31:51,542 --> 00:31:53,077
We need more people like that.

411
00:31:53,111 --> 00:31:57,882
I believe you are the part of the
generation really shaking our generation

412
00:31:57,915 --> 00:32:03,054
saying, Okay, we also have young artists
with disabilities who are here,

413
00:32:03,087 --> 00:32:04,689
and we need a voice and a presence.

414
00:32:04,722 --> 00:32:06,991
So thank you for doing what you're doing.

415
00:32:06,991 --> 00:32:08,893
Yeah. Well, thank you.

416
00:32:08,926 --> 00:32:13,865
And thank you all of your work,
facilitating so much of that conversation

417
00:32:13,865 --> 00:32:18,002
in all of the ways
that you and your organization do.

418
00:32:18,002 --> 00:32:24,008
And I do think it is fascinating,
even just reading about and discussing

419
00:32:24,042 --> 00:32:30,315
with him that sort of transition from going to

420
00:32:31,182 --> 00:32:35,053
not at all talking about the disability

421
00:32:35,086 --> 00:32:39,057
to making it an important part
of how he talks about access.

422
00:32:39,090 --> 00:32:41,192
And I do think it is

423
00:32:41,225 --> 00:32:46,864
such a personal decision for every artist

424
00:32:46,898 --> 00:32:50,301
with a disability, the extent
to which they want to talk about it.

425
00:32:50,301 --> 00:32:55,473
And I am so grateful that I
have the opportunity to do that,

426
00:32:55,506 --> 00:32:59,978
because I think for me, it's just
a crucial part of who I am artistically.

427
00:32:59,978 --> 00:33:05,216
I think disability really does enhance
the way I look at the world.

428
00:33:05,249 --> 00:33:09,821
I think that disability is such a powerful

429
00:33:09,821 --> 00:33:12,824
and creative, artistic force.

430
00:33:12,857 --> 00:33:19,263
I am really excited to talk about the fact
that I am an artist with a disability.

431
00:33:19,263 --> 00:33:23,167
I'm grateful for all the opportunities
that I get to do that.

432
00:33:23,735 --> 00:33:28,840
That's great.
I wonder if you could talk about

433
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,310
the people who inspired you 
in your musical journey 

434
00:33:32,310 --> 00:33:38,082
or maybe had a particular space
in your musical journey and that might

435
00:33:38,116 --> 00:33:42,553
have influenced the way you are
an advocate today or the way

436
00:33:42,587 --> 00:33:45,223
you are performing today?

437
00:33:45,523 --> 00:33:51,095
There are so many, and that's,
of course, such a big question.

438
00:33:51,129 --> 00:33:56,734
I think I have been so fortunate
to have so many incredible teachers.

439
00:33:56,768 --> 00:34:01,639
I am so grateful to all of them.

440
00:34:01,639 --> 00:34:06,677
And there have been so many ways
in which they have encouraged me

441
00:34:06,677 --> 00:34:11,115
to develop my advocacy skills,
which has been really important to me.

442
00:34:11,149 --> 00:34:14,485
I studied with Danielle Belen
in high school, and I now

443
00:34:14,485 --> 00:34:17,355
study with Miriam Fried in college.

444
00:34:17,388 --> 00:34:21,959
And they have both been always

445
00:34:21,959 --> 00:34:28,499
challenging me to make my 
music making central to my artistry, 

446
00:34:28,499 --> 00:34:34,105
but also to consider the bigger
story I'm telling and the way I can use

447
00:34:34,105 --> 00:34:37,742
my music to shape the world more broadly.

448
00:34:37,775 --> 00:34:42,713
Specifically in the disability space,
I think one really important 

449
00:34:42,713 --> 00:34:45,950
mentor to me has been Adrian Anantawan.

450
00:34:45,983 --> 00:34:50,888
His work has always just excited me.

451
00:34:50,922 --> 00:34:55,626
And I was able to meet him when he 

452
00:34:55,626 --> 00:34:58,863
performed at the Grand Rapids
Symphony two or three years ago.

453
00:34:58,863 --> 00:35:05,536
And from then on, I was so excited
to interact with this disabled artist

454
00:35:05,570 --> 00:35:12,543
who is making advocacy and and education,
such a big part of his career.

455
00:35:12,577 --> 00:35:17,081
And since then, I have moved
to Boston, which is where he's based.

456
00:35:17,081 --> 00:35:22,153
And so he has been
an important mentor to me in Boston.

457
00:35:22,186 --> 00:35:26,324
I've gotten the chance to play
with him and to really be mentored

458
00:35:26,357 --> 00:35:28,392
by him in more intentional ways.

459
00:35:28,426 --> 00:35:32,663
And that has been so crucial to me to have

460
00:35:32,697 --> 00:35:37,635
an artist in my life who is really

461
00:35:37,668 --> 00:35:44,141
pursuing these joint goals of musical
excellence and important collaboration

462
00:35:44,175 --> 00:35:46,644
and advocacy work and education.

463
00:35:46,644 --> 00:35:52,717
And so he's someone who has really
inspired me to think more critically

464
00:35:52,750 --> 00:35:58,356
about the ways I can expand
my vision for my future.

465
00:35:58,489 --> 00:36:02,460
Well, I wish you all the best
in everything you're doing right now.

466
00:36:02,460 --> 00:36:08,900
Don't hesitate. If we can help at ArtsAbly 
to promote something or to... 

467
00:36:08,900 --> 00:36:15,439
If you have a roundtable that is happening 
or a concert that is happening,

468
00:36:15,439 --> 00:36:19,844
or if we can help promote the young
musicians with disabilities in classical world, 

469
00:36:19,844 --> 00:36:22,380
don't hesitate to send that to us.

470
00:36:22,413 --> 00:36:23,247
Wonderful.

471
00:36:23,281 --> 00:36:26,250
Thank you so much for having me here

472
00:36:26,250 --> 00:36:28,753
and just for all of the work 
that ArtsAbly is doing.

473
00:36:28,786 --> 00:36:32,523
It's such an impressive
organization, and I'm so happy

474
00:36:32,557 --> 00:36:34,992
to be part of this conversation.
So thank you.

475
00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:39,096
Thank you. Well, have a 
great day and talk soon.

476
00:36:39,096 --> 00:36:41,098
Thank you. 
Bye bye.

477
00:36:42,433 --> 00:36:47,572
♪ Closing theme music ♪