Music/Folklore paper by Flamich, Mária
Vocational School of the Blind, Budapest

Music for Everyone

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Two concepts: music and disability
The first one implies happiness, the other one designates fear and anxiety. Although people generally connote contrary feelings to these two concepts, music and disability share many features. One feature, universality, is best manifested in Zoltán Kodály’s worldwide-known philosophy: ”Music is for everyone.” Music is really for everyone; each of us perceives, understands, interprets it in our own way. The universal nature of music and the relevance of special perception, understanding and ways of performing music provides endless possibilities for persons with disability to express themselves. The reflection of the Kodály heritage is introduced via interviews in one stage of this study.

Before the interviews the study focuses on stereotypical images which have been accompanying blind people, who are believed to be gifted musicians. The study reveals what is behind the above stereotypical statement in the first stage. And in the second one, with the help of the interviews, it aims to answer the questions whether there are any technical specialties and if yes, what are those which make it possible for blind and sighted musicians to offer joint performances in Hungary. With this study the author wishes to pay tribute to Kodály Zoltán’s philosophy which inspires thousands of people worldwide, to go beyond borders of whatever nature.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Mária Flamich teaches English as a Foreign Language at the Primary and Vocational School of the Blind, Budapest, Hungary. At the same time, she is also a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education and Psychology at Eötvös Loránd University. Her current interests are perspectives of cultural disability studies in higher education with special regard to music, disability memoir and its reflections in music. In the spring semester of the academic year 2011/2012, Maria Flamich was a Fulbright researcher at the English Department of the University of California at Berkeley.