The inclusive power of music

Music has many powers: it touches people’s hearts, it gives energy, it allows you to travel away without moving. Thanks to the commitment and passion of the In-Armonia Association, music has a new power: to include. The project of the Tuscanian Orchestra Regionale Inclusiva that we support foresees, in fact,m the involvement in the orchestra of people with different disabilities, so that everyone can have the opportunity to express themselves through an instrument, living a high quality social and professional experience at the same time. Breaking down barriers with music One project with a double outcome: breaking down barriers, allowing people with and without disabilities to rehearse, play and perform together; and enhance the diversity of each in a welcoming atmosphere that allows each member of the orchestra to achieve unexpected results, in terms of musical quality and personal growth. A success that emerges from the words of the orchestra members themselves, like Silvia, who plays marimba and percussion and says she was welcomed “with so much love and trust”. “Before concerts I feel a bit anxious” she adds, “but when I play I feel so much joy”. Tommaso Ferrini, vice president of the In-Armonia Association and director of the Orchestra Regionale Inclusiva of Tuscany, strongly believes in the project’s potential which, also thanks to our contribution, has expanded his activity “with individual lessons that have enriched our training offer and the quality of the orchestra itself”. With the orchestra we fill an important gap: we want to be a concrete job opportunity for the future of these young people in the artistic field, as stable orchestral. Thanks to the magical power of music we are able to involve children overcoming all limits, ensuring that everyone gives his contribution to the orchestra macrosystem. Tommaso Ferrini, vice president of the In-Armonia AssociationWe build a fair and sustainable society The individual lessons and musical workshops curated by the association are intended to spread, in addition to a new and inclusive way of playing, also a new way of thinking. Orchestral professionals and girls and boys with disabilities create an unprecedented harmony also thanks to the master in Orchestral Music Therapy using the Hexagram method with which the operators, coming from the Fiesole Music School, were trained. As our project officer Viviana Scannicchio hopes, the desire is that the project will welcome more and more people who can express themselves through music: because music goes beyond all barriers. And it is only by breaking down barriers and obstacles that an open and just society can be created in which each member, just like the members of an orchestra, can express himself to the best of his ability and, at the same time, feel useful and welcomed. As the well-known pianist and composer Ezio Bosso said “the orchestra represents the ideal society”. And this is precisely what we want to achieve by supporting projects with a high social impact and lasting over time: an equitable society that values singularities and not individualities. Viviana Scannicchio, Enel Cuore Project Officer