A music workshop for people with intellectual disability and Down's syndrome

In the context of Borderline Festival 2018, the Onassis Stegi presents a music workshop for adults with disabilities. This workshop will be led by Alan Courtis, who lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has been teaching music for people with disabilities since 1993.

The main aim of this project is to develop new ways of musical expression for people with disabilities. Workshop activities comprise a series of musical sessions designed for people with intellectual and/or physical disabilities. Sessions focus on music practice —rather than on theory— so that the workshop requires active and constant involvement by participants. Sessions center mostly around work with music, but some of the exercises include other art forms such as visual arts and poetry.

“There is an experiential side in the relationship with music, a side that lies beyond any theory or rational consideration and offers a unique way to reach the musical process. Throughout the many years we have been working together with people with disabilities (mental, physical, etc.), we have come to realize that special people have a very special connection with this experiential aspect of music. That is why our approach is oriented to develop all the possibilities of this connection, and improvisation takes a very important role here.”
—Alan Courtis