The Association of Multidisciplinary Art
"The Association of Multidisciplinary Art" is an NPO we founded in 2023 to facilitate the orchestra's activities. Alongside our artistic repertoire, we aim to contribute to the well-being of our surroundings through three main avenues: community art gatherings, education, and music therapy:
Community
"Moments" aims to bring quality chamber music to senior citizens living in public housing. Our vision for the program is to create a positive, intimate, and uplifting experience for the elderly. In 2024, the program was presented in 30 retirement homes nationwide, receiving great success and excellent reviews from residents. This initiative is generously supported in memory of Gladys and Irving Coopersmith and her parents, Molly and Joseph Friedman.
The program is a series of trios, of 45 minutes each. The musical repertoire spans different periods, styles, and cultures, performed on traditional classical instruments: harp, French horn, double bass, piano, percussion, vocals, guitar, and saxophone. During the concerts, there are moments when residents engage in conversation with the musicians, learning about the pieces being played. These interactions foster a sense of community and personal connection.
Education
The essence of the project is to make the Soundpainting language accessible to the local artistic community.
We do this on two levels:
Masterclasses and workshops:
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Ongoing teaching of the language in conservatories, academies, and schools
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Intensive, multi-day masterclasses, culminating in a student concert
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A central conference where the entire community from various institutions gathers and learns together
Artistic Activities:
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Soundpainting Festival
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Performances at schools
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Performances for the general public
What is Soundpainting?
Soundpainting is the universal multidisciplinary live composing sign language for musicians, actors, dancers, and visual Artists. Presently (2024) the language comprises more than 1500 gestures that are signed by the Soundpainter (composer) to indicate the type of material desired of the performers. The creation of the composition is realized, by the Soundpainter, through the parameters of each set of signed gestures. The Soundpainting language was created by Walter Thompson in Woodstock, New York in 1974.
As an educational tool, instead of having the music student bury their head in sheet music, they are invited to lift their eyes, look around, listen, respond, and create. It develops creativity, compositional skills, collaboration, improvisation, deep listening, ensemble communication where there is no right or wrong, experimentation, trial and error, research, non-verbal communication, critical aesthetic sense, expression, and inner honesty without the limitations of notation, presence in the moment, real-time decision-making, and more.
Musical Therapy
Communication school
An educational-therapeutic program supervised by certified music therapists with master's degrees from the Castle in Time Orchestra. A six-month program that aims to use music therapy to improve communication skills, social abilities, and self-empowerment among children and teens with special needs, dealing with autism (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs).
Goals and Impact
Short-term
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Improve social and communication skills
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Strengthen participants' self-confidence and self-image
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Provide a sense of achievement
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Foster integration of special education students with mainstream education
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Deepen the understanding of the children's diagnoses, providing practical tools for emotional challenges and strengthening parent-child relationships through shared musical activities
Long-term:
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Establish a sustainable music therapy program
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Make music therapy accessible to special education programs in conservatories across the country
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Assist in the integration of children with special needs into general society, schools, and conservatories
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Strengthen the community through inclusive musical events
The program was designed by Ofer Etzioni, Eyal Netzer, Tsviki Moran, Lital Meirzadeh, Oved Pinchover, Rachel Mazor, Dan Weinstein, and Matan Daskal.