Members of BSO Resound, an ensemble from the U.K.’s Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra comprising and led by musicians with disabilities.
In Friday’s (1/19) BBC Music, Freya Parr reports, “Many of the UK’s finest concert hall stages remain inaccessible to disabled [musicians] and a lack of imaginative commissioning and programming means we too rarely see disabled musicians on stage. Thankfully, though, change is afoot. There is a small army of instrumentalists, conductors, composers and instrument makers fighting to make the industry genuinely more accessible to professional performers…. Along with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS), Paraorchestra is part of a small group of ensembles in the process of revolutionizing what a symphony orchestra looks and sounds like, and helping advance the cause of disability in classical music. In 2018 BSO Resound and RNS Moves were established. BSO Resound is a disabled-led ensemble and RNS Moves is an orchestra that sees disabled and non-disabled players performing side by side. The impact of forming these orchestras should not be underestimated. Dougie Scarfe, Chief Executive of BSO, [described] how BSO Resound has changed the conversation around disability: ‘The impact has been felt nationally and internationally. BSO Resound has had a deep and lasting effect.’ The impact goes far beyond the orchestra, in particular reaching composers and the next generation of musicians.”
