Students and Special Needs Adults Share Concert Stage

Union, NJ – “We’re All in This Together!” a collaborative community concert, will be held Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Kean University’s Wilkins Theatre.

The concert will feature 35 Kean music students and alumni, 96 elementary students from Roselle Park public schools and 25 special needs adults from Community Access Unlimited. They will perform a variety of songs, including selections from the Broadway plays Les Misérables, Shrek the Musical and Seussical.

The concert is the beginning of a collaboration between the three programs.

“Music is a great connector, a great unifier,” said Lynann Schraer-Joiner, assistant professor of music education at Kean University and one of the coordinators of the concert. “The whole purpose is to bring awareness to adults with special needs who have aged-out of the school system. We want to encourage others to hold similar events and begin similar programs.”

The audience will have the opportunity to see a rare musical instrument in action. Kean University music faculty member Robert Rocco and two special needs adults will perform a selection of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on a radio baton, one of only 10 of the computer-based instruments in the world. The radio baton allows a performer to conduct and control a musical score stored in a computer, similar to how a conductor leads an orchestral performance.

Also featured in the concert will be the Kean University Percussion Ensemble under the direction of faculty member James Musto. All told, there will be close to 200 people on stage for the concert’s finale.

“We hope to build bridges beyond music, said Schraer-Joiner. “I encourage my music education students to provide an equal opportunity for all to participate and grow musically. This concert will celebrate that concept.”

For more information on the concert, email lschraer@kean.edu.

--By Margaret McCorry

(Photos, Kean University)

Photo 1 -- Members of Community Access Unlimited rehearse for the “We’re All in This Together!”

Photo 2 -- Members of Community Access Unlimited will collaborate with students from Kean University and Roselle Park public schools.