Orchestras across the country are teaming up with experts and community groups to deliver specialised programs that bust access barriers.
Relaxed and accessible orchestra performances are offered as a regular component of performance seasons, including at the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Recently launching their Relaxed and Family concert series earlier in the year, ASO’s Managing Director Vincent Ciccarello said: ’Relaxed performances are created with accessibility in mind, designed to make artistic experiences and spaces more welcoming and comfortable for neurodiverse audience members, anyone on the autism spectrum, and people with vision or hearing challenges, sensory and/or communication needs or learning disabilities.
Taking a deeper dive into the nuances of music and audiology, Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s Rediscovering Music program reintroduces the possibility for those with hearing loss to enjoy live concerts once again.
Long established and led by CSO bassoonist and clinical audiologist Kristen Sutcliffe, Rediscovering Music aims to create a turning point for those under the impression that they can never enjoy their favourite music again.
Sutcliffe told ArtsHub: ‘When you have hearing loss and wearing hearing aids, a cochlear implant or any kind of amplification, music sounds different. These devices are designed to hear speech as clearly as possible [not music]. Some people even say that when they first got the cochlear implant they weren’t even able to identify what used to be their favourite song.’
Image: A silhouette of musicians checking sheet music, playing a piano and a string instrument. From ArtsHub