[dbaust] Inspiring pianist plays on without sight or sound

  • From: "Trudy Ryall" <trudy.ryall@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <dbaust@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:45:55 +1100


Friends,
This is a article about a friend of mine Michelle Stevens who is deaf blind and is a gifted piano player. She is doing a fund raising event.
Trudy


Inspiring pianist plays on without sight or sound  advertised in the Age


Michelle Stevens and Thai Phuong Nguyen. Photo: John Woudstra

ANYONE needing inspiration to follow their dreams could start by listening to Michelle Stevens play piano.

She is blind. And deaf. And she plays with feeling and clarity.

Blind since infancy, she grew up to become a semi-professional pianist, playing at clubs and on television. But she thought that was over after losing most of her hearing in the early 1990s as the result of an ear disease.

But in 2006, staff at Able Australia, a not-for-profit organisation in Camberwell for people with multiple disabilities, reintroduced her to music.

Returning to Bach, Percy Grainger and The Girl from Ipanema, she could feel the piano's vibrations. A cochlear implant gives a smidgen of hearing. The piano evokes wonderful memories and she's good at playing it. It's a joy to her now to make other people happy and she's studying for her associate diploma of music.

Tomorrow, to raise funds for Able Australia, Stevens (pictured) will play at an event called Stage Fright. It's on from 10am to 4pm at the Cross Culture church, Swanston Street, opposite the State Library. It aims to enable shy people and procrastinators to play instruments, sing, recite poetry and display art in a supportive environment.

The organiser is Thai-Phuong Nguyen, 23, an occupational therapist who last year volunteered at Able Australia.

Nguyen (also pictured) always wanted to learn violin but was afraid of failure. A year ago, she realised ''it's now or never'', so she bought a violin and started lessons. She will play at Stage Fright. The program consists of 25 performers she found at bus stops, through friends and online. Nguyen says proceeds from the gold coin entrance fee go to Able Australia but the day's aim is also to ''improve the performers' confidence and make them feel they're a part of something and have achieved something''.




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