| Rebecca
Chan
Notes
on the concert in July, 2016 at thethe Sydney Opera House
Utzon Room:
You
wouldn't think that someone suffering from a high level
of cerebral palsy would be able to play a music instrument
would you? Nor would you think they could play with a
professional band. The Australian Piano Quartet and Jessica
Irwin have proved that it can happen and that the result
can be stunning.
Congratulations
to Rebecca Chan and the APQ for showing us how limiting
our preconceptions can be. The APQ have a residency at
the University of Technology Sydney and for this project
they worked with the folk who build software which helps
the less-abled manage life.
Rebecca
Chan wrote the piece Whispering Pectoriloquy in collaboration
with the team which enabled Jessica Irwin to play synthsiser.
Chan is a trained as a doctor and said she imagined synapses
firing while writing the piece. I have a similar background
(though I am a biological doctor not a medical one) and
I thought the description very apt.
Jessica's
Irwin's eye movements were shown on a screen so we could
watch what she was doing, but even if we had not been
able to visualise her work we would have been able to
hear how good it was. The piece got a standing ovation
at the Sydney Opera House Utzon room yesterday and it
was well deserved. I am looking forward to hearing more
of Chan's compositions.
More
about Jessica Irwin
More
about Rebecca
Chan
|
