There are fewer things in life more rewarding than having a fantastic talent and being able to use it. There are even fewer things in life more tragic than losing that talent to an accident. This happened to Rosemary Johnson who was leading a promising career as a violin soloist in the Welsh National Opera Orchestra. In 1988, while on her way to a performance, she was in a car accident that left her in a coma for seven months and gave her a horrible head injury that made her unable to speak or move. Since then she has been confined to a wheelchair, unable to continue playing her violin. Until recently.
She was recently able to perform with her best friend 29 years after they last played together because her mind was wired to a computer that allowed her to play the notes of the music with only her thoughts. This technology is a project that was led by Plymouth University and the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in London. The software used is called Brain Computer Music Interfacing software.
Rosemary, known to friends as Rosie, had the opportunity last month to use this software and play with her best friend, Alison Balfour. Balfour plays with the Bath Philharmonia and says she never imagined being able to play with Rosie again would be a possibility. In a quote from The Telegraph, she says “I felt honored to be doing this with her, to be her sound, her music, her violin and to have her next to me again was wonderful, really wonderful.”
Balfour said that the orchestra felt broken for a long time after Rosie was in the accident. She talked about Rosie’s potential and talent for being a violinist and how before the accident even the way that Rosie held herself gave everyone confidence in her abilities.
The software works by having the user focus on different colored lights on a computer screen which allows them to select notes and phrases to be played. How strong the player focuses can change the volume and speed of the piece as well.
Professor Eduardo Miranda from the University of Plymouth who lead the project says he is passionate about finding new ways to make music to allow someone who can no longer play an instrument to reconnect with music. They’ve been working on the project for about 20 years, and it all culminated to the moment Rosie took control of the software. Miranda said that as soon as she tried the software, you could see her joy.
Sometimes something amazing can come out of tragedy. Miranda was inspired by Rosie to work on this project that will now allow many others to express themselves through music and create something beautiful.
Watch The Amazing Story Below!
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Source: The Telegraph
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