I do not recall ever feeling more proud than I did yesterday afternoon – both proud of Lyn and proud of belonging to the disability community. I know I have written that elsewhere recently, but the events of yesterday were even more incredible than the recent solo concert the Paraorchestra did. Yesterday they played together, as one group, in front of a live audience, for the first time, and they sounded wonderful. A festival called Orchestra in a field at a venue not far from Glastonbury Abbey saw the debut performance of an orchestra composed entirely of musicians with a disability, and I now have absolutely no doubt it will be the first of many.

I had been worried that the idea of an orchestra exclusively for people with disabilities sent the wrong message. That, in an era where we are all working towards inclusion, in overtly segregated disabled musicians. Yet unlike the special schools, the Paraorchestra was formed through choice. It’s members choose to play for it. It allows them to express their talents which have been disregarded elsewhere. Thus, rather than being an effort to segregate, the Paraorchestra is an exercise in inclusion, bringing musicians with together all kinds of musical interests. On this level, I think it’s an expression of disability culture and vibrancy of the first order.

Indeed, after the performance yesterday afternoon, I had a chance to talk briefly to Charles Hazlewood, the man who set the Paraorchestra up, about just that. He shared my concerns, and had encountered them before from others. He was well aware of the potential dangers, but said that the Paraorchestra should be seen as just a first step, a platform from which musicians with disabilities could go on to other things. Moreover, as I found out from emma, the assistant producer, on the bus coming back, it has always been Charles’ intention to include able-bodied musicians too. That being so, I really hope the Paraorchestra is embraced by the wider disability community.

They really do first rate work: yesterday, they did two pieces, versions of greensleeves and ballero. It’s based on improvisation, where each member of the group, instruments ranging from harp to Ipad, picking up and playing variations on a set tune. Thus the music might be seen as a metaphor for disability itself, if not life in general, where diversity and variety come together to form a beautiful, melodic whole. I therefore truly believe that what I saw yesterday down in Glastonbury was the birth of something incredible.