The sound makes the music!

Written by Cor van der Lijcke

At the beginning of February, I attended music days at Eikholt for people with acquired deafblindness. It was an unforgettable experience!

Thanks to Dissimilis for their skilful musical support and for lots of inspiration! Thank you to course coordinator Cathrine, to the interpreter/companions and to the other participants on the course.

Dissimilis, which is Latin for different, is a cultural organisation that for over 30 years has worked actively to ensure that everyone has a place in the cultural landscape. Coaching legend Nils Arne Eggen said: "We will play each other well!"
This was the success in Rosenborg, but it has also been successful in many other arenas, and it was the same for us.

During the week, we learnt to play different instruments, we sang and we created our own ensemble.
On the last day of the course, we invited all employees at Eikholt to a concert where we performed songs from Bobbysocks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ole Paus, and we premiered our self-produced song and arranged the "March of the Wolves"!

Concerts have been held in the past where the musicians had sensory loss. "Our Best Day" by Erik Bye, with a melody by Jon Rosslund, was written for the 100th anniversary of the Home for the Deaf (now the Signo Foundation). "Our best day" was performed for the first time during the big anniversary celebration in Oslo City Hall by an orchestra called Maximus, consisting of deaf musicians!

Perhaps Eikholt pioneered the idea of organising music days and concerts for people with both visual and hearing impairments!
New courses will be organised via Eikholt!
3-6 May are music days for people with congenital deafblindness and 16-19 August are music days for people with acquired deafblindness.

I definitely recommend this!

Sincerely yours,
Horn

This post is reproduced with permission from SynHør and Cor