In April 2006 with the start of the school year in Japan, MUSIC SHARING piloted a new Comprehensive Program at three schools for the disabled. Through this new initiative, young paraprofessional-level musicians give children with disabilities weekly lessons at their regular school on instruments of their choice. The instruments range from percussion (timpani and Marimba) and band instruments (saxophone, flute, clarinet, and trumpet) to violin. In the spring of 2008, the program, which continues to collaborate with all three schools, was renamed the gInstrumental Instruction for the Disabled Program.h
The aim of this program is to enhance understanding of our activities and the children's willingness to learn through ongoing performance guidance, which provides them with the opportunity for new self-expression and realization.
To date, MUSIC SHARING has successfully obtained instrument donations through corporations and individuals. Some of the donated instruments have been adjusted to meet the special needs of the individual students, and have been used by children at the participating schools.
As part of this program, Midori and her pianist visit the music students and their classmates at their schools. MUSIC SHARING aspires to give them as many opportunities as possible to experience, experiment with and embrace music in various tangible ways.
Midori, the Founder of MUSIC SHARING, has a dream that, in the near future, she will bring together all the children in this special program to create an orchestra and a band. As a first step, MUSIC SHARING organized a collaborative concert by the three cooperating schools listed below in Tokyo in March 2009.
” PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS
- Asao School for the Physically Challenged, Kanagawa Prefecture School
- Form : Presentation support course (Music Art Group) Class curriculum. Once a week
- Instruments : Violin, Flute
- Kirigaoka School for the Physically Challenged, University of Tsukuba
- Form : as a club activity (Band Club). Once a Week
- Instruments : Trumpet, Clarinet, and Percussion
- School for the Special Educational Needs Affiliated with the Faculty of
Education and Human Sciences, Yokohama National University - Form : as a club activity (Music Club). Once a week
- Instruments : Percussion, Saxophone
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| Asao School for the Physically Challenged | Kirigaoka School for the Physically Challenged |
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| School for the Special Educational Needs Affiliated with YNU |
” VOLUNTEER INSTRUCTORS
- The following music university students and graduates execute this program:
- Violin: Hana Ozaki, Sakura Hayakawa , Natsuko Maki, Mami Ichikawa
- Flute: Junnichiro Taku, Showa University of Music, Kumiko Saito
- Clarinet: Kazuhiro Nozawa, Tomomi Sato
- Saxophone: Tomomi Fukazawa, Keito Kadoguchi, Naoto Yamamoto
- Trumpet:Yuki Tadatomo, Yoshizaki Fujishiro
- Percussion: Takeshi Kubota, Ayumi Suzuki, Kumiko Wakanabe, Yurie Kiyota, Mika Iwashita
” MUSICAL INSTRUMENT DONORS
Musical Instruments used by students at the participating schools were donated by the following, among others:
Akio Ishimasa, Kousei Ijichi, Sachiko Ohashi, Shinobu Oku, Tetsuaki Oda, Kyoko Suzuki, Mitsuru Takamura, Madzuru Todaka, Maiko Tokita, Noriko Nagashima, Shino Hashiba, Yasuko Morishita, Toyomi Yamazaki, Wataru Sato (Tokyo Electric Power Company Orchestra), Yohei Takeuchi (Representative of the Chofu Philharmonic Orchestra), The Japanese Clarinet Society, Sendai Shirayuri Gakuen High School Orchestra, and the Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank Harmony Association Orchestral Music
