Sunday, April 17, 2011

PressConnects.com: 'Concert explores intersection of childhood, disabilities'

[Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins]

PressConnects.com
Written by Chris Kocher
“As the mother of a 5-year-old boy with autism, Julia Grella O'Connell has seen what it's like to be — as author A.A. Milne once put it — 'halfway down the stairs,' in the world but not quite connected to it. However, she's also watched her son blossom at the Discovery Center of the Southern Tier's integrated preschool program, which started last year through the Handicapped Children's Association of Southern New York. 'It's been great for my son, I can see it's been great for other children with disabilities, and it's also great for the typically-abled children,' O'Connell said. 'It's a loving, welcoming class.'

“So when she decided she wanted to help the center's program to expand, O'Connell turned to what she knows best: music. On Sunday afternoon, the Discovery Center will host a fundraising concert titled 'Halfway Down: Music About Childhood and Disability.' O'Connell, a noted mezzo-soprano who earned her doctorate of musical arts at the City University of New York, will perform pieces from Johannes Brahms, Charles Ives and Fred Rogers of 'Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood' fame.”

“Soprano and scholar Stephanie Jensen-Moulton will join her former CUNY classmate with rarely heard songs from 'Blind Tom' Wiggins, a black autistic savant who rose to fame before and after the Civil War in the mid- to late 19th century.

“Although he could not perform the field labor of his slave parents, Wiggins showed an early aptitude for the piano, sneaking into the plantation house as early as age 4. His master, Gen. James Neil Bethune, hired professional musicians to play for Wiggins, who could often reproduce their performances after a single listen. Throughout his lifetime, he reportedly learned 3,000 pieces of music, including hymns, popular songs, waltzes and classical repertoire.”

Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) is featured at AfriClassical.com, which presents a complete Works List compiled by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University Conservatory. The most recent biography of the enslaved pianist is The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius, written by Deirdre O’Connell and published by Overlook Press (2009). The book's website is http://www.blindtom.org/

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