Orla O'Sullivan Deaf-Blind pianist, teacher, improviser, and motivator

Interview with Niamh O Mahony – Cork News. July 19th.

I am from Frankfield.
I work in my own studio in Frankfield.
For my breakfast I make my own juice – apple, pear carrot and ginger . It gives me great energy and using a master juicer is very handy and faster to make whatever juice you wish to make. Using raw fruits and veg is a lot healthier as there are more nutrients than in cooked foods. Then I would have porridge topped with sliced bananas and soy milk.
After I have a shower , I check all my emails , and reply to them and I try to finish anything that need to be done first and I leave the others till later..
Next , I do bit of exercise , either work on my cross trainer and stretching if its raining , and I always go walking daily in order to get freah air and sunlight. I would spend from 30 to 1 hour walking on most days.
Then I go over my music stuff for my work and double check anything that I went over the night before .For example , when my pupils exams comes up, I would have to go over all the pieces, theory questions, ear tests, sight reading tests to be sure I I have all the answers prepared for each pupil and for all grades. I also have to rehearse and memorise daily any pieces for any of my upcoming performances and also for any new pieces that my pupils are currently studying.. This of course takes many long hours so I usually split my rehearsal times into morning and evening .
For my lunch I usually have salads, smoked salmon or tuna with rocket leaves , watercress and spinach drizzled with French dressing or olive oil and lemon juice, and with brown bread spread with hummous.I also have alpro blueberry or any fruit yoghurt for desert.
Then I start work at 3 till 9. . For my dinner at 6 , I would have pasta with veg and pork , or stir fry with lamb chops and rice or poppies. Or I would have baked fish like trout, seabass, or cod with green peas or any veg and garlic bread..
After I finish work at 9 , I would rehearse the same score that I did earlier that day just to be sure every note is played correctly and I also make sure the dynamics and techniques are perfect. . After that I relax and meet friends for chats etc.

As regards commute , it depends on the weather. I walk a lot as I love it . I use the bus too as its only 5 minutes walk from my house and the bus comes every 15 mins but as there will be a shortage of buses soon , the times may be longer, I use taixi when I am out at night .. Everything is quite to close to my house as regards shopping centre , restaurants, church shops etc so Im fortunate to where I live.

Yes music is a very important part of my life . It started when I was about 3 or 4 years of age. My mother use to sing lots of nursery rhymes and used to put my fingers on the piano keys . I began to experiment all the different keys and spent hours “ playing” with the keys . Eventually I was able to identify the low and high pitches. .I used to love the the rhythm and dance. I went to formal piano lessons at the age of 5 and I just carried on from there. I learned several instruments down through the years eg organ in St finbarrs Cathedral, electronic keyboard, guitar, recorder violin, but I discovered that piano is my favourite.
There was always music in the house so that how I got used to having music on all the time.
Being deaf and partially sighted has meant that I have had to get all my musical scores enlarged section by section. Then I had to memorise each section and eventually the whole piece. This can be very difficult as it takes hours and hours of practice. Imagine trying to memorise the whole 3 movements of Schuberts’s Sonata.
Yes it has made me very determined.

I wanted to release my CD to show my talents and in the hope of encouraging other people with a disability to use their own talents or to “ have a dream “ and it will come true..
It took me about 10 months to do the whole album. NO it didn’t affect my regular routine as I did it at weekends and term breaks etc. It was not difficult process as I found it exciting and I hope to do more albums in the near future.
My family and friends and music teachers have been very supportive along the way and I am very grateful for that.
I feel I have achieved a lot personally and maybe as a role model for people with a disability - don’t wait for things to happen to you. Do it yourself. Its not so difficult . All you need is the will to do it.

My favourite hobbies is playing on the piano, my favourite pieces like Clair de Lune, Chopin ‘s Nocturnes, or Beethoven’s Sonata in C Minor . I love reading biographies of famous people who have made the world a better place . The last book I read was Andrea Bocelli who is a blind tenor . I admire what he has achieved and I like what he said that being blind is not a tragedy to him so why should it be a tragedy to others.
Also , from reading Evelyn Glennie ‘s story , this has encouraged me to try harder with my music and making my first album, Evelyn is a deaf percussionist who performs over 100 concerts around the world.
Other deaf musicians who has inspired are – Paul Whitaker . He runs his own centre in Yorkshire called “ Music and the Deaf”. He also has his own deaf orchestra and they last performed at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall last year. He integrates the deaf with the hearing children so as to raise deaf awareness and all this started 22 years ago.
Also Elizabeth Petcu , a deaf flautist from Dublin. She inspired me to make my Cd and I played at her concert 2 years ago in Dulbin.

At weekends, I visit my parents, I eat out regularly – I love Italian , thai Chinese meals. One of my favourite restaurants is Ecos in Douglas , the FarmGate in the Engliksh Market and a few places in Kinsale like Man Friday etc. I don’t drink coffee but only herbal tea like peppermint, green tea, fennel , ginger and lemeon tea etc.
I love going to concerts especially in Cork School of Music , Aula Maxima, Cathedrals, Art gallery , opera house, everyman palace. My favourites style of music is classical, ballads, negro spiritual ,gospel, light opera, ,light pop etc.
I love listening to Phil Coulter, Andrea Bocelli, Pavorritt, Hayley Westenra, Cara O Sullivan, Andrew Lyod Weber, Abba, , pianist John O Connor, Phillip Glass, Eoghan Colins and of course all the past composers like Beethoven, Chopin, Field, Liszt, Brahams etc. .

As regards deafness and blindness awareness , I feel that all schools (primary and post primary) badly need to have disability awareness programme and learn ISL language as a subject . This will help the hearing to integrate with the deaf more openly in all situations and make life easier for the deaf and blind .
More interpreters are strongly needed especially “close up interpreters” and tactile interpreters” which is very important for the deaf-blind/.visually people.
I also feel that all restaurants , hotels bars need to have “table menu” in large print and braille to allow access for the blind/visually impaired .
Also ,the deaf should be given the opportunity to learn music in schools and outside of school ( private tuition),this will help them to grow in confidence and express themselves through the “feeling” of vibrations and rhythm..
Music is for everyone retrospective of age, race and disability.