BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Update 8 July 2019: The next Sensory Concert will take place on 20 July at the Fullarton Park Community Centre.
The concert hall is the most commonly accepted method of disseminating classical music to listeners in a ‘live’ space. But it’s not a space that is suitable to every individual.
This is the issue underpinning the creation of Sensory Concerts. The new concert series offers a changed performance environment in which people with sensory needs are still able to access classical music, and won’t be overwhelmed by the lights, noises, and crowds that you’d find within most concert hall experiences.
The series was founded by Grace Kim, who is on a mission to help fight social isolation felt by people with sensory needs; and to provide people of all ages and their families with a relaxed and judgement-free musical space.
Grace is herself a concert pianist, educator, Winston Churchill Fellow, a mother to a child with sensory needs, and a daughter to a woman with dementia. We chat with Grace about the way Sensory Concerts can change lives while also sharing the joys of high quality classical music performance with everyone.
How will your Sensory Concerts support audience members?
Using my skills and experience as an artistic director, musician, and special needs parent, I program music that is family friendly, ’nutritious’, and contains elements that are known to be attractive to people on the autism spectrum.
We choose venues that are light and airy, [and have] comfortable temperature control with a retreat space. I also try to minimise sensory overload by considering things like the surrounding area – preferably leafy, spacious, calming – with good parking, accessible facilities so that there’s minimal stress for the parents. By the time they enter the space, they are calm and ready to engage in listening to beautiful music.
Each session will have small numbers – around 40-60 depending on the venue – with various seating options such as crash mats, textured rugs, cushions, chairs. We have therapists on site: Josey Sharpe (occupational therapist), Jane Wearn (psychologist), and Jenny Wu (cerebral palsy therapist) to help with regulation or physical support if needed.
The concerts are about 30-40 minutes long, and pieces include Beethoven’s first piano trio (first movement), Bartok’s For Children, Haydn’s Gypsy Rondo, crowd favourites such as The Swan from Carnival of the Animals, Kreisler’s Schön Rosmarin, and Dreaming from Schumann’s Kinderszenen.
Next Sunday’s concert will feature Lerida Delbridge (assistant concertmaster, Sydney Symphony Orchestra), Teije Hylkema (principal cellist, Opera Australia Orchestra), and myself at the piano.
As a mother of two children, one with Asperger’s syndrome, what have you personally found to be some of the biggest challenges in attending a “mainstream” concert experience as a family?
I’m a professional musician, with an international performing career for over 20 years. Since becoming a parent, I – and my husband, also a musician – naturally wanted to share our passion for music with our children, and attend concerts together. Due to the associated challenges with Asperger’s syndrome, we discovered that there were limited opportunities for families like us to attend the concerts of high-quality.
I’m sure many parents will agree that attending any public event with children in general is challenging! Especially traditional concert settings, where you are expected to be actively listening but physically passive. Most classical music programs are also designed with silence in mind.
We all do something in order to concentrate: twirl our hair, bite our lips, stick out our tongue (I find chewing a gum helps me driving long distance). But usually, these things are ‘socially acceptable’. For people on the autism spectrum or [who] have ADHD, they may find it easier to concentrate if they are in motion or physically doing something. But that is not an accepted behaviour in classical concerts.
Yes, but what about the wonderful family concerts presented by arts organisations with great programs and performers, I hear you [all] ask? I would have loved to take our kids to those. But usually, it is very crowded and can be a sensory-overload minefield causing enormous meltdowns. Therefore, we tend to avoid it. Why would we go somewhere to feel stressed, judged, and just busy trying to manage our child? It’s just too hard. And sadly, our kids miss out on all the goodness and joy that live classical concerts bring, not to mention the essential benefits to their growing brain development.
Why do you think concerts designed specifically for accessibility are still so rare in Australia?
According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: ‘In 2015, an estimated 164,000 people had autism[…] 83 per cent of Australian with autism were aged under 25‘. And that’s just autism.
There are many other neurological conditions such as dementia, stroke, as well as physical disabilities. With increasing awareness and education, I do think that Australian arts organisations are starting to explore ways to create an inclusive environment, but I have yet to see anything that specifically and explicitly addresses sensory needs. That’s why I created Sensory Concerts.
I have since discovered there are similar ‘sensory friendly’ concerts in the United States and United Kingdom, but our concerts differ in the way that we are small scale, and provide onsite therapist support.
There is an obvious growing demand for inclusive concerts: since our pilot concert last April 2017, we already have performed in the Blue Mountains, regional New South Wales, Melbourne, and upcoming Sydney and next year in Adelaide!
I have been getting enquiries from festivals and other concert organisations about Sensory Concerts, so I know that there is interest and willingness to try to address this area, and that is very encouraging. Other big businesses such as Coles and Hoyts already hold ’sensory friendly’ quiet shopping hour and ‘sensory friendly’ movie screening [respectively].
I guess the challenge is how to stay true to the concept of small numbers to avoid sensory overload of crowding, but be financially viable with such limited ticket revenue. That might be a hurdle for most organisations. We hold multiple sessions to address this, but it is quite labour intensive. Currently, I am self-funding this project, and recently set up a non-profit charity called Your Music Inc. in order to attract philanthropy, donations and grants.
Organisations such as The Great Walk Foundation (donating us a brand new trailer!), Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust, Churchill Fellowship Trust, and Lower Mountains Anglican Parish, have been amazing in their sponsorships.
How can musicians and audience members support people with sensory issues in their daily lives?
I think genuine understanding and education goes a long way. It would be beneficial for any musician or organisation to seek education and training from professionals in the field. In the case of concert venues, the staff – including front of house, stage managers, and door persons – so that they are equipped to assist if needed.
Personally, I find that people have more confidence if they have information, explanation, and strategies.
It is also important to support our special needs children and families by giving them strategies to handle and cope with their challenges so that they can participate and have equal access to quality products and services. One of the key elements of Sensory Concerts is creating an environment in which children and adults are able to self-regulate without judgement.
Experience a Sensory Concert on November 11 at 10am in the Kensington Community Centre, and 2pm and 3.15pm in the Drummoyne Oval Pavilion.
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Images supplied. Credit: David Hill/Deep Hill Media.
