Elsa Falcucci, Music Teacher at the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, hosted Feel the Music, the MCO’s programme for deaf and hard of hearing students, in her classroom during the orchestra’s Beethoven with Yuja project in Paris. Her class also visited the orchestra during a morning rehearsal session with pianist Yuja Wang at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.
The Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris (INJS) was founded in 1791. It is a specialized public school under the patronage of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Deaf students from three to 20 years old attend INJS, where their curriculum is linked to personalized projects based on their language (French with or without cued speech, or French sign language) and needs. While the middle school and vocational high school classes at INJS are for deaf students only, the institute also works with schools where deaf students attend classes with hearing students.
In this interview, the MCO speaks with Elsa Falcucci about the impact of Feel the Music on her class, how music is perceived by her students, and the music education programme at INJS.
What is your experience with deaf students, and with music? How does your current role as the music teacher at INJS bring these two elements together?
It’s been almost ten years now that I’ve been
teaching music to deaf students. When some students first start taking
music classes – especially those with profound deafness and no hearing
aid – they think that they won’t be able to play music because of their
deafness.
When they see the music room, something happens in
them and I think they can see the many possibilities. But when they
start experiencing different instruments, feeling the vibrations and
especially playing with the other students: that’s when they realize
that anything is possible!
How did you prepare your students for Feel the Music?
I
explained to them that they were going to meet professional musicians
and that they would be able to try different instruments. My colleague
who teaches English worked on the biographies of each musician, Miriam
and Paul with my students. I told them that they would take part in a
rehearsal with the whole orchestra.
What kind of experience do your students have with music? Do you think that made a difference in their preparations for and perceptions of Feel the Music?
In
my classes, the students learn different things: music theory, sound
painting (a method that engages students of all ages, ability levels,
and art forms in the creative process), basics of piano, guitar, drums
and ukulele.
The students who participated in the Feel the Music
started taking music classes with me in September 2017, so they didn't
know a lot about music. But we had already played "the conductor game"
so maybe that helped them in that role in front of the four musicians
and the orchestra. They had also tried the double bass before Feel the Music.
My students wanted to know if they would be able to play on the
instruments themselves. But they were also scared they could damage or
break them!
What was the most memorable part of Feel the Music for your students? And for you?
All
of them loved working with Paul Whittaker! They really enjoyed all of
his games, especially the body clapping game. The fact that he was deaf
was also really important for them. It means that a deaf adult is
convinced that deaf people can play the music, just like anybody who can
hear, so it has a greater impact on them.
There were four
different instruments they could experience: the violin, viola, double
bass and oboe. I thought they would all be eager to try the double bass
because it produces the greatest vibrations. What amazed me is that the
instrument which really attracted them was the oboe. They all wanted to
try it and some of them made really great sounds with it!
After
the oboe it was the violin they turned to despite the very high sounds
it makes, sounds which are really difficult to feel for them. I guess
they wanted to try the unknown! My students had a real curiosity towards
these instruments. It just confirms what I thought: there are no limits
to learning music when you are deaf, whatever your deafness level is.
We should offer as many possibilities to them as possible so that they
can experience every kind of music, just like people who can hear.
Has Feel the Music left a lasting impression in your classroom? What kind of impact has it made to your curriculum and students?
After
the project, clarinetists came to present their instruments to my
students. They tried the instruments without real hesitation and I think
it's because they had already tried the oboe during Feel the Music.
My students didn't ask about the purpose of the reeds because they
already knew what it was. It shows that learning how to play one wind
instrument can help students try other wind instruments and make them
feel more comfortable with them. The clarinetist also told me that the
deaf weren't as restricted as people who can hear because they weren't
focused on the beauty of the sound they produced, but that they were
more concentrated on the vibrations they created.
Ultimately, my
students made great sounds only by focusing on the vibrations they
felt, so if they practiced a lot more maybe they could become really
good clarinetists. I am convinced they have the ability to do
everything!
The INJS is one of the oldest and most well-established schools for the deaf – and one with the most well-developed music programme. How did that come about and what does the music programme at INJS look like today?
I have been teaching at INJS since 2002. I am also a singer-songwriter, so music has a very important place in my life. In 2008, while teaching 12-year-olds, I began to play music with them on small instruments to work mostly on rhythm. We went to the music museum at Cité de la Musique and when the kids saw the music room there, they told me that it was unfair they didn't have a music room at school!
I spoke with the principal about creating a music room at the institute and he was thrilled with the idea. The institute acquired instruments (piano, guitars, bongos…) and in 2009 I began to teach music to two groups of students. It worked well, but the students without hearing aids could only feel the vibrations created by the instruments close to their body, and not the music performed by others. So it was difficult for them to really play together. Eventually, we developed sound systems in the music room so that the students would be able to feel the music performed by them – even with electronic instruments – and by their friends.
In 2013, funds from the Association Elena Rostropovich made it possible for us to add instruments, sound systems and panels (which prevent the reverberation of the sounds, so that the students would hear better with their hearing aids) to the music room.
We’ve worked on many projects throughout the years, including opening for professional jazz musicians such as Mederic Collignon or Guillaume Perret at Le Triton. Last year we played with Tarek Atoui and the instruments he created for his project Within. We also met Evelyn Glennie.
I think that playing music with professional musicians and performing in front of an audience is very important for my students. My teaching programme is all about playing and creating music, and about sharing the music with audiences.
What is the greatest challenge for you as a music teacher for deaf and hard of hearing students?
I no longer have to convince my students that music is for everyone, even for them – they are convinced of it themselves now! If some of them think music is only for hearing people, the other students encourage them to think otherwise. So the students are my better allies and the first ones to defend music for the deaf!
Perhaps the biggest challenge is to have other people accept that even someone with profound deafness and no hearing aids can also enjoy learning how to play an instrument (and to do so really well – if he wants to practice a lot, as any musician would do.)
I still have to explain that music is all about the pleasure you can get from it and about a shared experience with others. But it is the same for people of hearing!
What is the greatest challenge for your students when it comes to any interactions with music?
For the students, the first challenge is to learn to listen to each other when they play together and to learn how to play with nuances (piano, and not only forte: at first, they wanted to play as loudly as possible). It’s all about learning step by step, and there is so much they have already achieved: playing in front of an audience, recognizing different instruments, learning the notes… some of them can even sing in tune!
Why is music education so important for deaf students?
First, music as an art form is one of the elements which makes us human and which helps us socialize with others.
When you listen to or play music, the brain develops many abilities and of course it is the same for deaf students. It helps with learning, concentrating and memorizing, so these skills are useful for other classes and other situations in life.
What are the greatest misconceptions you have had to work on changing?
In the beginning, I had to convince people about the importance of buying harmonic instruments such as piano and guitars. In fact, the biggest misconception is that the only music accessible to deaf kids are percussion instruments because it creates huge vibrations. Now, with the vibrating installations in the room, I think people understand it better!
I am also convinced that my students can learn how to play an instrument just by feeling the vibrations, even if they don't hear any sound with their ears. They have to internalize the vibrations and link them to the placement of their hands on the instrument, the kind of movements they make, as well as their strength… but it’s only a question of motivation and hard work. Nothing is impossible. I just have to prove it to the people who are skeptical.
How important are projects like Feel the Music for deaf children? Do you think that the MCO can make a difference with Feel the Music?
These kind of projects are really important for the students and also for professional musicians because they can share a musical moment together.
It’s an open minded experience for both: the students can learn the basics of an instrument with someone who is an expert, and the professional musicians can maybe leave behind their misconceptions that music and deafness are a paradox. After that, the students gain more confidence in themselves and the musicians can spread the word about the possibility and necessity of deaf students learning music.
So of course, the MCO’s Feel the Music project is an extraordinary opportunity to show the world that deaf kids are indeed different, but that can achieve many things if we only let them try.
"I would like to thank Paul Whittaker, Miriam Hoffmann, Julian Scott, Christian Heubes, Delphine Tissot, Alexander Edelmann, Andrew Higgins, Yuja Wang, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Fondation Louis Vuitton for this beautiful project and I hope we will collaborate more often in the future! Many thanks also to the former INJS Director, Mr. Dutheil, and the current Director, Ms. Hemery, as well as all of the Directors of Education who have always supported my project. And finally, to Magali Viallefond and Gilles Hugo, who have been part of the project since the beginning – I couldn’t achieved this without them. Vive la musique!"
Photos: Geoffroy Schied / Mahler Chamber Orchestra
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