In the spring of 2023, I piloted the MusiColAbility Project: An IU Collaborative Learning Project which brought together IU students and Disabled musicians from within the Bloomington community. This spring, we were fortunate to pilot both the early childhood program (ComeAllYa) and the collaborative music lessons (Collaborative).
The early childhood program, MusiColAbility ComeAllYa, welcomed four families and five children between the ages of 4-9 most of whom had a cognitive disability. The program met for 30-45 minutes each week for 10 weeks. During each session, I co-facilitated (with a music education PhD student) song games, instrument playing, and drama activities. The overarching goal of these sessions was to encourage musical participation, creative music making, and relationship building among the children and volunteers. In this first 10-week session, I feel we successfully accomplished this goal. The student participants were initially shy and reluctant to participate, but by our final sessions everyone was joyfully singing alone and together, taking opportunities to perform individually on drums, and recognizing one another’s contributions to the musical space. One young student in particular was very resistant to engaging and participating when he began with our program. By our final session, he led us all in a drum circle. Families who participated frequently mentioned that their children were singing songs from ComeAllYa at home and expressed gratitude and enthusiasm for the program. More than one family asked if we were able to continue through the summer and all shared they planned to return in the fall.
The collaborative music lessons (MCA Collaborative) also met weekly for a 10-week session. I had initially proposed this as a stretch goal for this pilot program. I was thrilled to find we had interest from 2 community musicians. We had one young violinist with some physical limitations and one adult musician with autism. Each of these musicians was paired with 2 IU students who provided individual music instruction based on the needs and interests of the community musician with disabilities. The IU volunteers reported that both musicians made musical gains and expressed enthusiasm for joyful music making in these collaborative spaces. All the musicians were eager to continue in the fall, and the family of our young violinist coordinated with one of her volunteers to continue lessons through the summer. The adult musician became aware of our program through StoneBelt, a local community organization that supports adults with cognitive disabilities in the Bloomington community. Thanks to enthusiasm of this one adult musician, there are several more Disabled adults who are interested in joining our program in the fall.
Community Impact
The program served 6 community members with disabilities between the ages of 4-40 and their families/caregivers this spring. All participants were eager to be a part of the program and families and caregivers shared that it was such a positive and joyful part of the week.
Student Impact
We initially had 21 IU students (undergrad and graduate) volunteer for the program. The IU students who were involved with the project were enthusiastic and positive about their experience. Regrettably, there were many IU students who volunteered that we did not have a chance to bring into the program because we did not have enough community members in this pilot program. This is something I hope we can remediate in the fall with more community recruitment.
Many of the IU students shared initially they were nervous about how to engage and participate but found their rhythm teaching and learning with the community musicians. The IU students shared that it impacted their beliefs and perceptions of the Disabled community as well. Many have already talked with me about returning to the program in the fall and some, as I mentioned before, have organized lessons to continue through the summer of their own volition.
Short and Long Term Goals
Overall, I feel this first term of the MusiColAbility project was successful. As I look to the future, I am excited to continue the program in the 23-24 school year.
Regarding recruitment, I am working with partners at StoneBelt to connect with more adult musicians and I am reaching out to administrative contacts in the MCCSC to recruit additional school aged musicians. I am also looking into additional funding sources so that we can expand the program as additional needs arise.
Starting the fall, I am planning to conduct a qualitative case study exploring the perceived benefits and impact of the program on IU volunteers and community members throughout the 23-24 school year. Long term, I hope this program can grow and develop into a research lab that supports this community collaborations and also supports collaborative research with community musicians with disabilities. I think this pilot has shown that there is a need for this type of community partnership in Bloomington and that the IU students are eager for these types of experiences. I am grateful to the Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development and the Jacobs School of Music for supporting this pilot project and I look forward to ways that we can continue to grow the program in the future.
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