Voices to be heard through music: the Sound painting of Spazio Vita and the method of Esagramma

People with physical or mental disabilities often see their personality obscured by the definition of their pathological condition. Realities such as the Italian activities of the Spazio Vita centre, located in the ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, and Esagramma, set up in the Fondazione Sequeri Onlus, succeed in bringing out the individuality of their users through music. The Sound Painting workshop at Spazio Vita, dedicated to adults with motor disabilities, allows them to create music using special instruments (equipped with tactile sensors) such as the Soundbeam and Kibo. The group of Spazio Vita users can therefore make music just like a band, in which each member has a specific role and is indispensable in his or her individuality. In the same way, the Esagramma ensemble allows its young users to follow an orchestral music therapy course, through which they take on a specific role in the collective, beyond the limits of their pathological condition. After observing the two musical activities and interviewing two users from each centre, it was clear to me that both activities, although very different in terms of the users and the musical instruments used, are virtuous examples of how it is possible to make the voices of those who are often stifled by the stigma of disability heard.