Music and Blindness Education

A recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education gives us, for lack of a better term, an inside look at the voice lessons and opera production of a blind soprano at the Catholic University of America. As a music teacher, we take for granted the sighted skills that we use every day in music making. It is a challenge to begin to think about giving a blind music student the same quality music education as her/his sighted peers. What may be even more daunting than thinking of ways to teach the music is thinking of ways to ease the logistical burdens. In what ways can a blind student be integrated into the choral concert or the musical? Reading this article sparked my imagination. Among the ways the opera directors at CUA helped the blind student function on stage was to use thick stage tape to mark positions for the blind student to feel through her shoes.

Read the article and you can also watch a video of a voice lesson!