- Deborah Kelleher, CEO - Royal Irish Academy of Music
Shaun takes charge
of performance at
Royal Irish Academy of Music
Image credit: Mark Stedman
Conductology
Imagine living in a world where EVERYONE had the opportunity to access and participate in high quality music making. Imagine living in a world where EVERYONE had the chance to make great music in a positive, happy environment. Imagine living in a world where we do not question cognitive ability but focus on a shared goal-quality music making.
You don’t have to imagine anymore. Conductology is the new way of making music. A way that affords the absolute right for EVERYONE to make quality music. Conductology does not judge intellectual ability, age, background, culture, expertise, experience, religion or gender. Conductology does NOT judge. Conductology allows! It opens the doors to EVERYONE-giving them the deserved right to make music.
Above,Shaun Healy, Master Conductologist and the first person with a severe intellectual disability to become a Conductor receives yet another standing ovation in the prestigious Avolon centre at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin. The award-winning ensemble, trained by Dr Denise White and Shaun, comprises participants with Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Aspergers.
CEO Deborah Kelleher, interviewed on prime time Irish television and press at the launch of the Open Youth Orchestra of Ireland, credited the Conductology Universal Music System as the "glue" which holds the orchestra together.”
Deborah explained, “ The music output comes from the creative and collaborative use of conventional music instruments blended with the latest adaptive music technology, producing a cutting edge, highly original and contemporary sound. The orchestra unites through the scientifically proven gestural system, ‘Conductology,’ created by Dr Denise White of Ulster University.” Conductology can also be demonstrated without any technology at all or even without musical instruments.
Dr Denise White, inventor of Conductology and Shaun criss-crossed the country to train tutors and ensemble participants bringing them together to create the hugely successful debut performance of a fully inclusive orchestra in Athlone Institute of Technology in the centre of Ireland.
The indomitable duo are determined that high-quality arts education should not be the preserve of the elite, but the entitlement of every child.
Musical inclusion involves giving young people, who may otherwise be overlooked, the opportunity to explore, engage, and broaden their musical horizons. As well as musical engagement, it is widely recognised that musical participation has the potential to offer young people a range of emotional and social benefits.
The scientifically-proven, gesture system, an Irish invention, enables physically and intellectually challenged children, young people and adults to compose and perform high-quality music. The gestures are specific and the Conductor displays a gesture request to a musician which he/she will then execute. The gestures involve the music elements of timbre, pitch, tempo, texture, dynamics and duration.
It is accessible to everyone from pre-schoolers to collegians to those with special needs. Enhancing quality music-making, builds social inclusion, breaks down barriers, develops creative thinking and confidence and raises musical aptitude.
Impact results indicate increased cognition, communication and social skills and enhanced confidence, self-efficacy, self-determination, and emotional wellbeing, as well as a significant advancement in music skills.
Collaboration Can Change Communities... Conductology (Ireland)
