August 2009
In Sync with The Special Orchestra
by Karen Boehler
On an early June evening, a group of musicians gather at the Anna Becker Park bandstand in Belen. They tune their instruments—which range from keyboards, drums and guitars to a violin, xylophone and tambourines—and prepare for their performance.
Once everyone is on stage, and the audience settles around the gazebo, they begin to sing and play. Songs range from country and folk to Spanish and pop, with beats veering from “The Twist” to a waltz.
And while the songs might not always sound recognizable, and aren’t always in tune, the enthusiasm the musicians exude is palpable. And that’s the whole point of the performance. These musicians are members of the New Mexico Special Orchestra, a first-of-its-kind troupe for developmentally disabled children and adults.
“Music is a universal language, and some of our friends without the gift of sight or language, as we know it, can understand the emotions conveyed by music,” says founder of the organization, Gair Linhart who is a member of Socorro Electric Cooperative and lives in La Joya. He created the orchestra a decade ago.
A musician himself who earns a living as a special music provider working with organizations such as Adelante Development Center and R.C.I., Linhart got the idea to branch out to the communities when the state’s group facilities were closed.
“I worked for eight years at the Los Lunas Hospital and Training School, the state facility for severely and profoundly disabled adults, and we actually started the first Special Orchestra there,” he says. “I had a wonderful boss who took advantage of my musical skills and put me in charge of a department called “Music and Movement.” And then, with the state and national move to deinstitutionalization, when most of our friends moved away from the facilities in Fort Stanton, Las Vegas and Los Lunas, and into the communities as our neighbors everywhere, we found the need for continued music in the mainstream community.”
Special Orchestra is not therapy, Linhart says, but rather enrichment in the lives of those who might not have any other outlet for their creative endeavors. But whatever the description of the program reads, it’s obvious from watching and talking with the performers that this is something they love to do.
“Special Orchestra is a blast,” says David Storey of Bosque, a drummer and keyboardist.
“It’s nice. I like doing this Special Orchestra,” agrees Bryan Castleberry of Belen, who plays drums and guitar.
“I love it,” adds Joe Bustos of Belen, a violinist. “It’s in my blood.”
In order to allow the musicians to play in tune without having any musical training, Linhart developed the Special Orchestra Method and Songbook, that helps tune all stringed instruments—from guitars and banjos to violins—to a “special C.” That way, all the musicians have to do is strum along, rather than learn intricate fingering.
Linhart also developed a Special Music Prompter, which allows musicians to learn three chords, and follow lights during a song to play those chords. Anyone wanting to start a Special Orchestra can download the Special Orchestra Method and Songbook from the Web site—www.specialorchestra.org—or order a bound version that includes a CD, as well as order the Prompter.
In addition to the stringed instruments, drums are popular with the musicians, as are keyboards. Those with lesser abilities join in with tambourines, maracas and simple noise makers. No one is excluded, and everyone who wants to is given at least one solo to sing.
All this makes Special Orchestra available to anyone who wants to perform. Currently, there are two operating chapters. One in Valencia County, which meets on the second Friday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Belen Recreation Center, and one in Albuquerque, which meets at 1:00 p.m. the last Saturday of each month at Adelante, Inc. The Special Orchestra’s season runs from September through June, with no activities during July and August.
As they have for a number of years, Special Orchestra set up a tent at this year’s State Special Olympics in late May, “and we had hundreds of people play with us,” Linhart says.
Members of the Orchestra, and every performance is a little different with some regular members and others who just stop by, have performed at venues as diverse as the New Mexico State Fair, Albuquerque Folk Festival, the Rail Runner dedication (where they met Governor Bill Richardson), the Belen Meadows Nursing Home, and the State Capitol.
Perhaps the biggest performance for any of the musicians was at the World Special Olympics in Dublin, Ireland in 2003. Although only Linhart, Castleberry and his mother Rhonda, and one other adult made the trip from New Mexico, there was no shortage of music at the venue.
Linhart says organizers welcomed them with open arms, and more than 200 special-needs musicians from around the world joined them in the performance. “We contacted the World Special Olympics, sent them a demo disc, they looked at the Web site and they said, ‘Come on over,’” he says.
Although many instruments were supplied in Ireland, the quartet flew from Albuquerque with more instruments than luggage.
“Thank goodness that was before the airlines got more restrictive about how much you can take on a plane, because we lugged a tremendous amount of instruments through Heathrow Airport and Dublin Airport,” Linhart laughs.
Besides performing, they met Muhammad Ali and Timothy Shriver, the chairman of Special Olympics and son of Special Olympics founder, Eunice Shriver.
Bryan Castleberry called the visit “cool” and drew laughter from Linhart when the musician chose to remember a rather unique aspect of the trip. “He met all those luminaries and lots of wonderful people, and he chooses to remember one funny little incident on one of those British double-decker busses, where some punks were upstairs,” Linhart laughs.
Castleberry chimes in, “They were sitting up there drinking, and the bus driver tells them, ‘Get off the bus.’”
Rhonda was just as thrilled with the overseas trip as her son. “I was very excited,” she says. “I got to go somewhere besides around here. It was fun. He was excited, too, especially when he found out I was going.” While she was fine with Bryan going with Linhart, she was glad to accompany her son. “I trust Gair with him, but it’s like, ‘My baby’s leaving,’” she says. “I’m glad I got to go.”
All Special Orchestra participants are required to be accompanied by a provider, and Rhonda has no problem whatsoever taking Bryan to just about all of his performances. “I love it. He enjoys it and I love bringing him. It’s fun,” she says. Linhart has received funding for the program—a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization—from New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Other much appreciated support comes from groups such as Adelante, Inc., the New Mexico Combined Federal Campaign, My Bank, Mile High Optimists, The New Beginnings, Sierra Vista Civitans, Elena Sanchez, Deppa Therapy Services, Creative Consultants, R.C.I., Los Lunas Community Program, Steppin’ Out Magazine, and Web Witchcraft.
Instruments are donated from across the state, and refurbished and repaired by Bill Underwood of Las Nutrias, a small community in Socorro County. Underwood was featured in the Vecinos column in the December 2007 issue of enchantment.
The June performance in Belen was billed as a “Bandstand Concert and Popsicle Party,” and was a low key event lasting about an hour, with participants playing for a small crowd of family and friends, then enjoying the cool treats before packing up and heading home. The final event of the season was a much bigger and more formal affair.
On June 27, 2009, the New Mexico Special Orchestra and Dance Troupe premiered “Everything That You Feel!,” a musical written and scored by Linhart and choreographed by Azita Creighton at the library on Fifth and Copper in Albuquerque.
Linhart describes the play as “the story of a young man who has to be apart from his loved ones to live in a community-based home. It has a message that resonates with families all across the country and all across the world because almost inevitably, families are faced with a crossroads with their loved ones where it becomes necessary, sooner or later, for family members to live outside the family.”
“Hector,” the wheelchair-bound protagonist of the play, learns how to live in a group home with help from members of Special Orchestra, while a special-needs provider learns the people in her care are more than just a job.
Linhart described the season-ending performance as “Fantastic. Nice big crowd. The dance troupe did a fantastic job.”
And just as the play’s characters are looking ahead to a bright future, Linhart has big dreams for both the play and the organization.
A 2005 documentary by David Yerxa records some of the early years of the organization including the Ireland trip. Performances by both the orchestra and dance troupe are available online at the Web site and through YouTube, but Linhart would like to see his play made into a film.
“We’re going to try to get a major film company. I’m trying to decide between Ronnie Howard and Martin Scorcse,” he laughs. But while he admits those two may not be available, “We’d like to get regular film production made of our play. We feel it’s that good,” Linhart says. As far as the organization, “Our dream is that it will be a national organization,” he says. “We’re trying to share techniques that we developed right here in New Mexico.”
He invites anyone interested to download or order the songbook. The site says: “Special Orchestra will be happy to give a Method & Songbook to a deserving school or program.” Linhart hopes the program will expand beyond the Land of Enchantment. “New Mexico, we’re truly pioneers in this field,” Linhart says. “If they call me we’ll send them a free book and a free play-along CD at no charge.”
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