Feel the Music opens the world of music to deaf and hard of hearing children, encouraging them to discover music on their own terms. In interactive workshops at schools for the deaf and at the concert halls, children and musicians explore how music can be experienced with all their senses.
The programme was developed in 2012 as part of the Beethoven Journey with Leif Ove Andsnes, tying in with Beethoven’s hearing loss. Since then, projects have been carried out in 10 countries and each workshop has been very enriching for both the children and the MCO musicians. The ongoing interest of promoters and schools for the deaf has allowed Feel the Music to live on after the conclusion of the Beethoven Journey in 2015.
With Feel the Music the MCO aims to make a difference, setting an international example for inviting and integrating deaf people into the music world. We hope to inspire many more musicians, ensembles and promoters to create such opportunities for the deaf.
To learn more about the structure and the different workshops of Feel the Music, please click here.
Thinking Big – Feel the Music Festival Project
In addition to the individual projects, the MCO aims to initiate and foster exchange among our partner schools for larger international projects.
In September 2014, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Beethovenfest Bonn presented a Feel the Music Festival: 50 deaf children from previous projects in Brescia, Cologne, Prague and Dublin travelled to Bonn to reunite with the MCO. There they all got to know each other and made music together. On World Deaf Day 2014, the children performed a signed song family concert, accompanied by the MCO. Leif Ove Andsnes and Paul Whittaker, the two founding partners of Feel the Music, also participated in this concert. The 5-day festival project included a leisure programme for the children and teachers, a 2-day symposium on music and deafness which called upon the arts and education sector to discuss present and future concepts of deaf music education, and of course the exciting rehearsals and concert.
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is dedicated to the development of further such projects in partnership with promoters and festivals around the world.
To learn more about the Feel the Music Festival 2014, please click here.