The OHMI (One Handed Musical Instrument) Trust Gala Concert Announced for 7th September

On September 7th, virtuoso French horn player Felix Klieser, who plays with his feet, will be making his UK debut at a Gala Concert as part of the 2018 OHMI Conference, performing Mozart's Horn Concerto No 4. Felix is an ambassador for the OHMI Trust, which pioneers the development and adaptation of musical instrument for physically disabled people.

The Concert, a celebration of virtuosity by disabled musicians includes performances by the first big band formed entirely of disabled musicians, Bader's Big Band and the American Petry sisters who will play Vivaldi's double cello concerto.

Despite having been born with no arms, Felix Klieser took up the horn at the age of four. Unable to hold the instrument, he would sit on the floor where the mouthpiece would be level with his lips. Now 27, he plays with the instrument fixed into a specially-design stand and operates the valves with his left foot. With his right foot, Felix operates a rolling stand which enables him to change the sound of the horn with a mute. Felix has won the Leonard Bernstein Award, and performed as recitalist and soloist with ensembles as varied as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and in Sting's world tour.

Inga Petry was born in Siberia and adopted by music teacher Jennifer Petry, who also works as a director and consultant for music students with special needs through the "Adaptive Music Project." Although Inga did not have arms, she insisted that she get her chance to play, and began cello lessons on a viola placed at her feet before she turned three years old.

As she grew big enough to play an actual cello, May We Help, a group of volunteer engineers based in Ohio, developed and built a stand to hold her cello at just the right angle. As Inga grew musically, she needed a better quality instrument to play. Inga is now eighteen years old, studies cello and has performed all over America and in the UK.

Elena Petry began cello lessons at the age of eight, also studying with her mother, Jennifer Petry. Elena is a member of the Veritas Academy orchestra in Pennsylvania, assistant principal cello in the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra and junior counsellor at the Adaptive Music Camp in Cincinnati, Ohio. She plays on a 7/8 cello granted to her by the PLAY Foundation, and uses an adaptive cello holder and bow holder made for her by May We Help, the volunteer non-profit in Cincinnati that has worked with both girls throughout their musical studies.

Established in 1982 by the friends and family of RAF flying ace Sir Douglas Bader, The Douglas Bader Foundation advances and promotes the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of physically disabled people. The foundation's musical arm, Bader's Big Band, is the first ever big band to be formed entirely of disabled musicians and highlights the benefits that music can bring to those whose lives are affected by disability.

The OHMI Trust is a UK-based charity pioneering the development and adaptation of musical instruments for those who are physically disabled. Any deficiency or disability in one hand or arm makes traditional instruments unplayable to any reasonable standard. As a result, millions across the world are excluded from music-making for the lack of suitable instruments. This includes people with congenital disabilities such as cerebral palsy and hemiplegia, amputees, those who have suffered a stroke or developed arthritis.

The OHMI Trust's objectives are to remove the barriers to music making faced by physically disabled people, and to enable undifferentiated participation in musical life, whether at school, in the home or in a professional ensemble.

OHMI runs an annual competition to encourage inventors, designers and instrument makers to develop a musical instrument that can be played without the use of one hand and arm, and that has all the characteristics and facility of a traditional instrument. Instruments include

As new instruments for those who are physically disabled become available, the OHMI Trust is working with appropriate organisations to teach and promote their use to anyone previously excluded from making music by their disability.

www.ohmi.org.uk

Photo Credit: Maike Helbig

To post a comment, you must register and login.