Musicians to perform by eye movements at BBC Proms

A musician who plays an eye-controlled instrument hopes that his BBC Proms performance will prove what disabled people can achieve.

The National Open Youth Orchestra includes musicians who play the Clarion, an instrument that can be played by eye movement or using a tablet, which was developed by Bristol company Open Up Music.

The orchestra is set to perform at the BBC Proms for the first time on Sunday at the Bristol Beacon.

Clarion soloist Alessandro Vazzana, 28, will perform the first-ever solo concerto written specifically for the Clarion and hopes everyone will enjoy the "sound and experience".

He added: "I hope they listen to great music and don't just think about disabled musicians."

Evie Read plays the Clarion by using a tablet and also performs in the National Open Youth Orchestra, which is made up of 11-25-year-old disabled and non-disabled musicians.

Read, 19, said: "I want to show to people who have a disability or are neurodivergent that they can do anything that a non-disabled or neurotypical person can do.

"I want to show people that anyone has the potential to thrive in music. I hope that they can go back knowing that they are capable of making music no matter what it looks or sounds like and maybe pick up an instrument themselves," she added.

Bea Hubble, programme manager for the National Open Youth Orchestra, has said one of the things she loves about running an inclusive orchestra is the instrument is secondary to who they are as people.

"Our repertoire and our performances and the sound the group makes is different every year because there's different people every year," Hubble added.

She said she hopes by showing that it can be done, the orchestra is providing a blueprint for other groups.

"Maybe people think it's too difficult to have people with additional needs in an orchestra. It is complicated, but it is also possible and it's incredibly rich and rewarding for everyone," Hubble said.

She added it means a lot to the musicians to play the Proms.

"One musician said it's really cool we're doing one of these because all their friends have done Proms and we've never done before," she said.

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