For April, Oliver is our Young Musician of the Month!
We’re celebrating the achievements of Middlesbrough Open Orchestra this Autism Awareness month, so we wanted to highlight one of our young Autistic musicians. Oliver attends the Orchestra each week, with sessions taking place at his school and Middlesbrough Town Hall. We’d also like to take the opportunity to congratulate him on achieving a Distinction in Grade 5 Piano after receiving a Distinction in Grade 3 last year!
The Middlesbrough Open Orchestra is a partnership between Musinc, Middlesbrough Town Hall, Beverley School and Priory Woods School. The programme offers SEND students from our partner schools to learn musical instruments, collaborate, compose songs and perform as an ensemble at various regional and national events.
Like many of his peers, Oliver enjoys playing multiple instruments such as piano, electric guitar and violin, allowing him to explore his musicality freely. The Orchestra is flexible in its format and whilst the students can stick to what they’re comfortable with, they’re encouraged to be creative and try new techniques. There is a lot of research evidence on how music making has positively impacted Autistic people in areas such as their communication skills, empowerment and self-expression.
Ben Hopkinson, music lead for Middlesbrough Open Orchestra said:
I can imagine that his Autism might make his day-to-day life more challenging, sometimes not recognising some typical social conventions, but when it comes to music his Autism almost seems like a superpower. He has perfect pitch and an incredible memory – he’s able to memorise music way way faster than any other person I’ve taught.
Oliver’s teacher, Neil Thomas added:
Oliver is an exceptional young musician whose Autism allows him to be super focused on his interests. His ability to learn and memorise new pieces is unbelievable. Oliver has just passed his Grade 5 Piano with Distinction and is already pushing to take another grade. Oliver is an integral part of Open Orchestra, switching between piano, guitar and violin depending on the piece. Oliver is also a brilliant composer who seems to compose almost instantaneously and needing little if any reworking. Autism can make our young people’s lives more difficult on a day -to-day basis but also offers unique skill sets that we can all benefit from.
Recently Open Orchestra has been preparing for a concert at Middlesbrough Town Hall, which will focus on an innovative research project called DigiScore. The Orchestra has co-created original music to accompany projected visuals in a collaboration with University of Nottingham and artist Layla Curtis.
We’re so proud of Oliver, and look forward to the orchestra’s performance on Friday 7th June 2024!
About Open Orchestras
Established in 2013, Open Orchestras is a national programme that was created to address a lack of ensemble musical provision in Special schools; to empower Music Hubs, arts organisations and Special schools across the UK to set up and run their own orchestra sustainably, just like mainstreams schools do. Find out more about Open Orchestras.
Oliver playing the keyboard at an Open Day at Middlesbrough Town Hall
