[Nfbf-l] Fwd: GREAT Article!

[john schwery]

My wife, Anna, sent me this one.

text of forwarded message follows:


>
>VERY SPECIAL MUSICAL VISION
>
>
>
>Legally blind teen pianist has whole world in his hands
>
>
>
>By DONNA KELLY
>News Chief correspondent
>
>Published: Monday, December 20, 2010 at 7:42 a.m.
>
>WINTER HAVEN - Eighteen-year-old Matthew Oliver 
>sits comfortably at the grand piano on the 
>lighted stage at Harrison School of the Arts, 
>his head slightly bowed in concentration as his 
>hands glide gracefully over the keys.
>
>His white cane folded and tucked on the floor 
>beside the piano bench is the only sign of what 
>some might define as his disability - Matthew 
>describes it as simply a part of his life. But 
>his blindness is not what folks, after hearing 
>him play, remember about this college-bound high school senior.
>
>They remember his music, poise and endearing self-confidence.
>
>Matthew, who composes music and maintains a 4.18 
>grade point average with advanced placement 
>courses, was recently selected as co-winner of 
>the 2010 Very Special Arts (VSA) Young Soloist Award.
>
>This is the second year he has received this 
>recognition, which is awarded based on an 
>application, an essay defining why one deserves 
>the honor and a tape demonstrating the student's abilities.
>
>According to Marian Winters, executive director 
>of VSA, entries are adjudicated by a group of 
>professional musicians in Tampa Bay - including 
>instructors from high schools and colleges - who 
>score them. Those with the highest score are selected for the award.
>
>“We want to educate people that creativity is 
>not bound by disability. And that VSA means to 
>be included so we want our students with 
>disabilities to be included in all aspects of life,” Winters said.
>
>“We want the art to stand out in spite of the 
>disability. We want our performing artists and 
>visual artists to be recognized for their ability,” she explained.
>
>And this fits in with Matthew's own view of his 
>life, music and lack of eyesight.
>
>“I don't think any disability should hold you 
>back. If you have the proper training and 
>upbringing, you can overcome these obstacles,” 
>he said. “We all have something to contribute to 
>the world and I don't think anything should hold us back from that.”
>
>Blind since birth, Matthew was also born with 
>perfect pitch. He began playing the piano when he was six years old.
>
>“I saw patterns and I wanted someone to explain 
>it,” he said. “The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.”
>
>He studied under Walter Billingsley for seven 
>years and then Christine Arens before enrolling 
>as a freshman in Harrison, where Bekie Haubry became his piano instructor.
>
>“I tried to come to each lesson with the 
>attitude of this is what I've learned this week,” he said.
>
>Matthew composed his first piece of music when 
>he was 9 years old. He learned Braille in fourth 
>grade. By middle school, he was reading Braille music.
>
>When he auditioned for Harrison, he played the 
>trumpet. These days, he focuses on piano.
>
>“He is so innately gifted,” Haubry said. “His 
>natural ability is in the top 5 percent of the 
>students I've worked with over 22 years here.”
>
>Haubry chalks Matthew's success - in music and 
>life in general - to his innate musical talent, 
>parents who instilled in him a positive work 
>ethic and sense of independence, and the 
>educational resources available to him.
>
>Matthew is the son of Kathy and Rob Oliver of Winter Haven.
>
>Haubry spends time putting Matthew's music and 
>tests in Braille but, she said, this is the only 
>special treatment he receives - or expects.
>
>“I never think about him being blind,” she said. 
>“His approach is different but the outcome is the same.”
>
>Haubry describes Matthew as confident, musical, and self-motivated.
>
>“When he has a goal, he is going to achieve it,” Haubry said.
>
>If attitude is everything, then this explains 
>Matthew's success. Well aware of his talent, he 
>is confident in his ability without the 
>arrogance often accompanying these gifts.
>
>His role model is not a famous composer but his grandfather.
>
>“He's not a professionally trained musician. He 
>plays the harmonica for fun,” he said of the man 
>he calls Grandpa. “I've always admired how he 
>could pick up songs with no musical training.”
>
>But Matthew, who is a past winner of the 
>National Federation of Music Club Agnes Fowler 
>Award for Blind Composers, isn't afraid to 
>critique the work of composers, including his own.
>
>He smiled when asked about the music he wrote as 
>a 9-year old and said he's learned a lot since then.
>
>The pieces he writes now are “a lot more 
>musically interesting and make more musical sense,” he said.
>
>He prefers playing his own music because he can 
>change it as he sees fit. This isn't so with the compositions of others.
>
>“He could have done so much more with the themes 
>but he didn't,” he said of noted French composer, Claude Debussy.
>
>But the comment has less to do with Debussy than it does Matthew.
>
>“I like having control over my music,” he added.
>
>Piano isn't his entire life. He enjoys swimming, 
>tinkering with radios and radio frequencies, and learning about forensics.
>
>His favorite musicians - Michael Jackson and 
>Queen - are noted for their pop and rock performances, not piano prowess.
>
>“I like the element of musical sound in any type of music,” he said.
>
>His goal is teaching, not performance. With 
>acceptances from Florida State University and 
>Stetson University, Matthew plans to study music 
>education with the intention to become a band or 
>orchestra director in public schools. He wants to teach music and theory.
>
>“I try to not let it affect me. It's just a part 
>of life,” he said about being blind. “Really, 
>you don't have to be sighted to be a musician,” 
>he said. “My music is in Braille. Conducting is motion; it is listening.”
>
>Caroline Senko, a student musician from Orange 
>County, was named co-winner with Matthew for the 
>2010 Very Special Arts (VSA) Young Soloist Award 
>on the state level. Both students are candidates for a national award.
>
>National award winners will perform in June at 
>the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing 
>Arts in Washington, D.C. National winners are 
>expected to be announced in January.
>
>news at newschief.com
>
> From Our Neck Of The World, our current weather 
> is:  Silver Springs, Florida Clear, 51°F Wind: ENE-060° at 9mph
>A language is a dialect with an army.
>Anna
text of forwarded message ends:

John
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