(C)ROBERT SOHOVICH
The orchestra performs its 2015 Holiday Spectacular show with Diamond Dancers. Photos courtesy of Robert Sohovich
Putting together a symphonic experience that can appeal to all audiences, particularly those with special needs, can be a daunting task.
The theater is most likely to be packed, the orchestra is loud and few people would think to bring a child or family member with special needs. In essence, some may not think the symphony is a place for everyone.
Heather Garner, founder and executive director of the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, wants to change that perception.
In 2015, the orchestra performed a show that may have seemed odd to regular symphony enthusiasts. The symphony performed only songs that lacked drastic and sudden changes in noise level, undersold the theater to allow ticketholders to stretch out and welcomed patrons to make as much noise as they pleased. The lights were only dimmed, ticketholders were free to leave and enter their seats, and dancers added a visual component to the performance. The show lasted less than an hour.
This performance of Peter and the Wolf, dubbed “sensory-friendly,” accommodated those with disabilities such as autism and Alzheimer’s disease. It also allowed for families to introduce their kids, who may be too talkative or fidgety for a traditional show, to the symphony. And it was wildly successful.
Music Director Luis Biava conducts the New Albany Symphony Orchestra
Amy Hess, program director for the Center for Autism Services and Transition (CAST) at The Ohio State University, was approached by Garner while she was planning Peter and the Wolf. Hess was excited about the opportunity to assist in the planning, she says, but quickly realized Garner had it all figured out.
“She (has) one of the first orchestras that I have seen in the state of Ohio that has done a sensory-friendly performance; she’s really novel,” says Hess. “I was completely blown away, because she already had so many things in place. We did very little.”
The performance was such a success that this year, the orchestra is expanding the concept into a series of three sensory-friendly shows titled Saturday at the Symphony. Each show precedes by one day a standard performance on the orchestra’s calendar. The orchestra received a PNC Arts Alive grant, its fourth, to put on the series.
“I am always looking for ways to remove barriers that might cause someone to not attend or feel welcome at a symphony concert,” says Garner. “Concerts are supposed to be fun and inspiring, and music is a wonderful therapy, but oftentimes, the perception of sitting still, being quiet and dressing up deters some families from attending.”
The three shows featured in the Saturday at the Symphony series are Santa and the Symphony on Dec. 17, before Holiday Spectacular on Dec. 18; Take Me out to the Ballgame on March 11, before Casey at the Bat on March 12; and H2O on April 29, before Power of the Sea on April 30.
To make sure the series is as accommodating as possible, each show will run no longer than an hour, the venue will offer family-friendly restrooms and a zone in the lobby to relax, and the symphony offers a downloadable storyboard on its website, www.newalbanysymphony.net. Before each concert, the orchestra provides refreshments and an art project.
Dacners perform as part of the orchestra's sensory-friendly production of Peter and the Wolf. Photos courtesy of Heather Garner and Jack Garner
Additionally, all staff will be appropriately trained, and an in-house specialist will be available during the performances for assistance. All of these accommodations were made possible by the orchestra’s partnership with the Autism Society of Central Ohio and Methodist Eldercare.
After the sensory-friendly performance last year, Garner invited leaders in the autism community to join a talk-back session and audience members to fill out a survey about the performance. She was surprised to learn that the orchestra’s performance was one of the few sensory-friendly options in the central Ohio arts world.
“The New Albany Symphony Orchestra definitely wants to help change that,” Garner says. “I think this series also opens up the possibility for a better understanding of what accommodations can easily be offered for inclusion at other events taking place in the community.”
Hess is aware of how needed more sensory- and autism-friendly events are in central Ohio. CAST opened in 2014, and in the first two years since its opening, it has seen a huge number of patients. Hess attributes this to the fact that after patients with autism outgrow their pediatricians, they no longer see a primary care doctor. CAST provides this service for adults with autism.
“You transition out of pediatrics, and there aren’t any (adult autism) clinics in the United States,” says Hess. “This is really rare, really unique, very needed.”
CAST and the orchestra’s accommodations for those with autism is obvious for Hess not only in a professional sense, but in a personal one as well. Her 16-year-old son, Henry, has autism. She was able to see first-hand the impact that last year’s sensory-friendly performance had on him.
PNC Arts Alive participants pose for a photo
“For us, it was really relaxing,” says Hess. “When you have a child with autism, you, a lot of the time, feel like you don’t fit in.”
Hess says Henry was able to express himself at last year’s sensory-friendly performance in ways that he might not have been able to in a traditional symphony setting. He was able to stand up and make noise and, if he felt overwhelmed, go to the lobby for refreshments or work on art projects. Hess laughs picturing Henry expressing himself in these ways in a traditional orchestra setting: proof, she says, that the symphony can be accommodating to those with special needs.
“Heather Garner is doing an amazing job over there. I’m incredibly impressed by her – and New Albany,” says Hess. “I don’t know what’s in the water in New Albany, but they’re doing a lot of good things with autism.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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