A BEAUTIFUL SONG

 

Colin Darge, one of our esteemed Stage Door performers has Williams Syndrome.   The Vanderbilt Register, the newsletter of Vanderbilt University in the state of Tennessee, featured this article:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/

Williams Syndrome is relatively rare, and those who are diagnosed with this condition are like the rarest flowers.  They have similar appearances, and seem ageless. They are happy, affable, and almost without exception have virtuostic musical talent.

They are like spirits of the air, and can play instruments, sing or compose music effortlessly.  Their love of music is infectious, and having heard individuals with Williams Syndrome play over a number of years, it is almost impossible not to be borne away with their musicality.  Notes played are deliberate, fully understood and expressed by their creators, and the pleasure each Williams Syndrome wunderkind derives from playing their instruments is captivating.

60 Minutes s did a segment on Williams Syndrome and featured six different musicians playing diverse music on several instruments.

The language of Williams Syndrome, which is exclusive to its musical collective, is melody, rhythm and an ability to pluck music out of the air, like a gliding butterfly. Each day is an opportunity to hear music in every nuance of life, and to recreate it with enthusiasm and fervour.

Williams Syndrome may stand as a diagnosis within Autism, but people with shining dispositions and almost unfathomable talent characterize it.  Williams Syndrome is a beautiful song played by each person diagnosed within this ASD constellation.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

WILLIAMS SYNDROME AND MUSIC
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/register/articles?id=21096

SAVANT SYNDROMES – ISLANDS OF GENIUS
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/