Our story
People Facing the World by Music
"Let`s play more faster, Honghee. Follow my lead. One, two, three!"
The sound of `Wing` cello filled the air in Miral school, at 10.a.m. on the 24th. This was a day when ,Cello Ensemble, "Wing" Winter Music Camp was ongoing. A cello ensemble, "Wing" was activated from November 2012. The camp was consisted of music theory lesson, cello practice and Improvement Concert in order to examine the improvement from the previous practices. The 27 members and their parents of the "Wing" seemed to be nervous.
Seeing Improvement Concert at one hall and Ensemble practice at the other hall seemed like an audition. Conductor Saeran Oh, who was grading the ensemble members, said "I am so impressed that children can play like a professional. At first, they did not even know how to hold the bow".
She added that the audition feels like a few days ago. The requirement for the ensemble member was not "Youth with developmental disability who can perform perfectly" or “Person with disability who can perform perfectly". The requirement was "youth with disabilities who is able to play instrument". For that reason, this ensemble has special meaning as it is a result of one-year steady efforts and parents` help for a year.
One parent said overwhelmed ,"It is a miracle that my child has an opportunity to play cello in person and preparing to be on the stage. My child has been always enrolled in music therapy." Also a mother of a daughter who has intellectual disability said "I couldn`t even imagine that my daughter will play an instrument and have a dream. I was always nervous of sending my daughter to regular workplace. But these days, I get to think how good would it be if she works as cello player."
After a successful performance, one of the ensemble member, Hyoungeun Choi got a question `Why do you like Cello?`. He answered that he is happy when playing Cello and how he wants to practice more to become a professional ensemble member. Parents` of "Wing" members said that children is being happy just because they are able to do something by themselves. They added that it is not easy to do something by themselves. " Wing"opens the opportunity for them.
Miral Cello Ensemble "Wing" started conducting activities since November 2012 in order to improve disability awareness and teach youth with developmental disability to communicate with the society by music. "Wing"is being sponsored by the Life Insurance Social Contribution Committee and Dong Yang Life Insurance Corporation since 2014. Miral Welfare Foundation hopes "Wing" to be a stepping stone to the harmonious society for youth with developmental disabilities.
