Two exceptional events took place on November 17 and 20. These are the OSMose concerts, which were held at the Maison symphonique de Montréal.
These “relaxed” concerts represented the culmination of a magnificent project that began simply with an email that I sent to the Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM) in May 2018. This email invited the orchestra to reflect on the fact that students with an autism spectrum disorder could not take part in OSM educational activities, despite the fact that they naturally have a strong and beautiful connection with music.
I was pleasantly surprised when, a week later, I was offered a meeting with the OSM’s head of youth programming, to discuss it further. Over the months that followed, the project slowly took shape. A project aimed at offering symphonic music to a clientele for whom the conventional is not trivial. Everything requires reflection, a new angle, another perspective far from our usual benchmarks. Pandemic obliges, the project was spread over three years with two groups of so-called regular classes and three of school adaptation. A dozen musicians came in turn to the Saint-Étienne school in Montreal to present their instrument, share their music and their passion.
All these beautiful people entered into a relationship through a sound, a vibration, a melody, sometimes without words but in harmony. This experience was enriching for the students but also for the musicians, who were able to become aware of the strength and beauty of their art by simply offering it and letting each student absorb it in their own way.
At all times, the notion of inclusion has remained at the heart of the project. OSMose was an approach based on the desire to understand and improve our perceptions as well as our understanding of this notion. I believe we can consider the mission accomplished!
I would like to thank the OSM, and more particularly Mélanie Moura, head of youth programming, for her openness, her ability to listen and her involvement in this wonderful project. Thanks to Michel Phaneuf who, thanks to his generosity, made this project possible. Thank you also to all the members of the orchestra and more particularly to those who came to meet the students of the school. You offered them your passion: music, without expectations, by stepping out of your comfort zone. Thank you also to the school staff for leaving the routine aside by daring to go out with your students to introduce them to a new world. Thank you to the neuro-atypical families for taking the risk of coming to live a different experience. Many told me of their anxiety, fear of judgment, disorganization of their child. You have to understand how much effort and organization such an outing can take. Thank you also to the neurotypical families for your openness and for having taken the risk of coming to vibrate with the difference and thus promote a serene and benevolent living together.
It is time to realize that the arts are a tool of choice for promoting social change. The OSMose project is a first seed. We must now continue this quest towards an increasingly inclusive community. All citizens can participate and it is also time to call on elected officials, both in the cultural and educational sectors, so that other similar or different, but always inclusive, projects can be born over the years. coming !