Adaptive Choir and Singing with Disability: The Effects of Assistive Technology and Inclusive Pedagogy on Radical Arts Access, Arts Curricula, and Medical Outcomes

Background: Assistive technology opens doors for people with disabilities to live dignified lives, and enables radical access in arts pedagogy and artistic institutions, to make participation in live performance within reach both physically and financially. Inclusive performing opportunities provide impactful ways to engage people of many abilities in the arts and may contribute to better medical outcomes for people with disabilities; however, the industry and academia lack guidelines and curricula for radical access in performance, perpetuating isolation, exclusion, and ableism in the arts and society.

Objective: This research makes use of new or improved technologies that improve quality of life, medical outcomes, and arts accessibility for people with disabilities, through assistive technology and inclusive pedagogy, and will unfold in a two-pronged approach to explore:
– effects of singing and study of voice on people with spinal cord injuries with decreased mobility and lung capacity. We will measure lung capacity in real-time and in collaboration with each performer’s medical team.
– assistive technologies for people with disabilities, including eye tracking and lip reading, to create real-time sounds in rehearsal and performance contexts in adaptive choir.

Methods: In a preliminary study, we worked with three individuals, one in person and two remotely, on a set of pedagogy techniques for singing, while measuring lung capacity across a six-month period. Lung capacity will be measured at the start and end of each voice lesson via a cloud-based, remote monitoring platform, across the scope of the study. Simultaneously, we will explore programs head-, smile-, and eye-tracking programs in voice lessons and rehearsals. Voice training will take place in three forms: weekly private voice lessons, group voice (studio class) lessons (1-2 times monthly), and choral rehearsals, with final performances in July 2024 and October 2024, the latter of which is a part of the 2024 International Symposium for Assistive Technology in Music and Arts (ISATMA) at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, NY.

Results and Conclusions: We will present the results of our six-month curriculum piloted by three performers with disabilities, and parameters for a model curriculum and assistive programs, including free music software options, for secondary schools, collegiate institutions, and performing arts organizations. Our results will be discussed and compared to qualitative existing strategies for navigating choral experiences and voice pedagogy within the voice studio.

Dr. Jonas Braasch, Co-Director of EMPAC, Director of Research
Dr. Katherine Skovira, RPI
David Whalen, EMPAC Researcher in Disabilities
Dr. Robert Whalen, RPI