On 15th and 16th March 2025, the OHMI Trust, in collaboration with Birmingham City University and Imperial College London, will host a major conference exploring the barriers faced by people with physical disabilities to music-making, from the design and ongoing production of instruments to wide-ranging issues around performing. The event will also encompass the OHMI Competition awards.
The conference will build on the previous OHMI Conference in 2018 and you can see some of the presentation slides on the OHMI website. This event aims to bring together perspectives and experiences from a wide range of people including disabled musicians, instrument makers, academic researchers from many different disciplines, teachers, charities, funders, and government agencies. Recently developed instrument designs will also be demonstrated.
The challenge to enable full and undifferentiated participation in music for people with physical impairments is a subject only recently receiving attention. We hope that sharing knowledge through this conference will stimulate further and more rapid developments in the coming years.
Venue: Birmingham City University, City South Campus, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3TN, UK
Dates: 15th and 16th March 2025
The conference will build on the previous OHMI Conference in 2018 and you can see some of the presentation slides on the OHMI website. This event aims to bring together perspectives and experiences from a wide range of people including disabled musicians, instrument makers, academic researchers from many different disciplines, teachers, charities, funders, and government agencies. Recently developed instrument designs will also be demonstrated.
The challenge to enable full and undifferentiated participation in music for people with physical impairments is a subject only recently receiving attention. We hope that sharing knowledge through this conference will stimulate further and more rapid developments in the coming years.
Venue: Birmingham City University, City South Campus, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3TN, UK
Dates: 15th and 16th March 2025
book conference tickets
Tickets are now on sale via the link below.
Previous conference
In 2018, the OHMI Trust, in collaboration with Birmingham City University and Queen Mary University of London, hosted the inaugural OHMI Conference on Music & Disability: From Instrument to Performance.
The event featured talks and performances by Valerie Thomforde, Neill Duncan, John Kelly and the Able Orchestra, with international representation from speakers from 5 continents. Over two days, 38 presentations, talks, demonstrations and performances took place on themes ranging from adaptive instrument making, adapted performance techniques, music education and assessment, and the moral rationales for undifferentiated participation.
Presentations from the 2018 conference are available via the OHMI website here
The event featured talks and performances by Valerie Thomforde, Neill Duncan, John Kelly and the Able Orchestra, with international representation from speakers from 5 continents. Over two days, 38 presentations, talks, demonstrations and performances took place on themes ranging from adaptive instrument making, adapted performance techniques, music education and assessment, and the moral rationales for undifferentiated participation.
Presentations from the 2018 conference are available via the OHMI website here
