BIAAE ABLE Assembly for Students, Artists and Educators Past Event
Author: Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 29 Apr 2023 - Updated: 27 Sep 2023
Publication Type: Event
Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Overview - Related Content
Synopsis
Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education (BIAAE) hosted ABLE Assembly: Arts Better the Lives of Everyone Conference and events April 21-23, 2023.
Overview
This year's event featured a slate of talented disabled performers in the first-ever ABLE Showcase concert. The Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education (BIAAE) hosted artists, students, educators, administrators, policymakers, and researchers from across the disabled community at the 2023 ABLE Assembly: Arts Better the Lives of Everyone Conference, an in-person and hybrid event that took place April 21-23. The three-day conference offered participants the opportunity to connect, learn, and share, and also featured the first ever ABLE Showcase concert with a lineup of talented artists.
The 2023 ABLE Assembly returned to the in-person format of the pre-2020 conferences, but also continued to offer virtual access for remote attendees to view live and pre-recorded video of keynote presentations, workshop sessions, and other supporting materials.
The ABLE Showcase concert took place from 12:00-3:00 pm on Saturday, April 22 at Red Room at Cafe 939 in Boston.
The lineup featured a diverse group of highly-talented disabled artists, including the BIAAE Rock Band, and Berklee graduate Precious Perez, a blind vocalist, songwriter and disability rights advocate, who performed in a duo with blind percussionist Shane Lowe.
In addition to the showcase, a chamber music group from Berklee performed the original work of BIAAE student Adam Walden who composed a suite of pieces based on the best-selling book The Reason I Jump at the David Friend Recital Hall.
The 2023 program invited Liz Byron and Berklee's own Ming Yuan Low to give the keynote presentations. Byron is a noted author, as well as a K1-8th grade visual art, special education, and ESL teacher in the Boston public school system. She has presented and taught graduate-level courses on Universal Design Learning, most recently as a teaching fellow for the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and shares many of her experiences in her book, Art for All: Planning for Variability in the Visual Art Classroom. Low, a music therapist and assistant professor in the Music Therapy Department at Berklee, focuses his clinical work on community-informed music therapy practices and supports for people with marginalized identities.
The ABLE Assembly is an exceptional professional development opportunity in the field of accessible arts education, bringing together educators, artists, researchers, policymakers, school administrators, program administrators, and students to share best practices, explore new research, and learn from each other.
The Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education is a catalyst for the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of visual and performing arts education.
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability, a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.