Music for All?

I attened a "Brown Bag" at the Old Church in Portland.  As the name implies, the Old Church is the oldest church building in Portland.  However, the name is misleading as it is actually no longer a church.  It is not a nonprofit that houses weddings, concerts, and other gatherings.  It is a beautiful place, and they will hold free noontime Wenesday concerts that I love to attend.  This week, we heard David Rothman, who presented us with many lovely Chopin pieces.  A list of their concerts can be found here.

They announced that the concert was going to be taped, and requested that we remain silent between movements, only clapping when the piece was completely finished.  I wondered why live concerts were taped like this, rather then just taping in a controlled environment.  I guessed that it probably had something to do with the energy of the player or something like that.

A few minutes into the concert, a few people came in.  The newcomers were obviously a group of people who were developmentally disabled, with two escorts.  They had to come in through the handicapped door due to the fact that one of them was in a wheelchair, and that door was at the front of the room, so everyone was staring at them.  I glanced at the microphones, and thought to myself that this wasn't going to go well.

About five minuets after they showed up, one of the members gave a long, loud moan.  Everyone's head spun around at the sound, mine included.  The person who had made the noise was smiling and clapping his hands siliently in joy at the music, and the room glowered at him.  I smiled, but I saw that a lot of people were troubled and a few were angry.

The pianist was one of them.  After the song, he asked if there was a noise.  One of the audience members pointed out the group and said that it was them.  There was an uncomfortable silence, then one of the escorts led the noisemaker away.

I felt so terrible for him.  Although I understood that the tape of the concert was probably ruined (at least for that song) I wondered if the audience and the pianist realized just how vital it was for the young man who was kicked out to attend a concert like this.  If it was so important to get a good tape, then they should have made this clear prior to the concert to make sure that people who were not able to listen silently would not show up.    Maybe the man who left didn't understood why he was leaving, or maybe he did and was sad, hurt, or even humiliated.  I wouldn't be surprised if the small part of the concert gave him just as much joy as the rest of the people listening, perhaps even more.  The disabled are marginalized, removed from societal, and rarely able to attend an event like that.  It was wrong for him to leave.