Sharing Music with the Hearing Impaired Community
Rinat Avisar is a trained classical musician who studied in Israel and Berlin. Her musical experience led her to a career in social entrepreneurship, managing cultural institutions including the Israeli Chamber Orchestra.
Rinat and her husband, Yoram Lachish, also a musician, are the proud parents of two daughters with hearing impairments. In order to share their love of music with the girls, in 2018, Rinat and Yoram developed the Touching the Sound Show, a cultural performance especially designed for children who are hard of hearing. The show incorporated an orchestra, lights, and chemistry, engaging the senses of the young participants. Touching the Sound won the Israel Accessibility Award. Its success demonstrated that there was a desire to increase cultural accessibility to those with special needs.
Equinote Activities
On the heels of the show’s success, Rinat founded Tav HaMashveh (The Equal Note) in 2018. Equinote has two main areas of focus:
- Artist management: It provides a platform for talented artists with special needs. By providing a stage for these unique artists, Equinote raises awareness about inclusivity, autism, mental health, and disabilities. The organization helps the artists to navigate challenges in order to bring their ideas and projects to fruition.
- Customized content: Equinote provides tailored content for specific groups of children with special needs. Popular plays can be adapted for children with autism or developmental delays. The actors have degrees in psychology, and they have experience working with special needs populations. Equinote offers various programs that include music, games, and movement for special education as well as integrated classrooms. They offer programs in Arabic and they integrate Arabic into their Hebrew programs.
Equinote partners with municipalities to run festivals for those with special needs. They participate in cultural accessibility conferences for Israelis and Palestinians, and help provide hearing aids for children and young adults in need.
Equinote is run by two salaried employees as well as a host of teachers, guides, and performing artists who work on a project basis. The artists, including those with special needs, are all paid.
The Arcana
During her time with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Rinat met the Israeli inventor of the Arcana, a unique instrument that is both easy to play and accessible to those with a wide range of special needs. The Arcana simulates the strings of a guitar, using colors to indicate which notes to play. It is easy to learn – new users can play simple songs after just two lessons, and it can even be played by those who have limited or no use of their hands.
Each instrument costs 4,500 NIS. Equinote partners with the creators of the Arcana and the Ministries of Culture and Welfare to purchase the instruments, placing them in hospitals and educational institutions, and training teachers in order to offer people with special needs access to music lessons.
Equinote has shared this program with Jordan, and is planning to introduce it to Morocco and the UAE, noting that music transcends boundaries. Those who play the Arcana have become their own community. Students who were helped by the instrument ultimately become teachers, introducing its powers to others, and earning leadership skills along the way.
Equinote During Wartime
Sadly, the War of the Iron Swords has caused injury to many soldiers and civilians. Rinat and Yoram understand the healing and empowering qualities of music, and are preparing to bring the Arcana into hospitals and rehab facilities to assist in recovery.
They are also bringing music to children who have been displaced from their homes. Equinote is visiting shelters and hotels in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Tiberius, Herzliya, and the Dead Sea. Roughly 20% of the children in shelters have special needs, and Equinote is a calm, understanding presence to parents and children who are away from their routines. They offer much needed music therapy, conducting workshops on healing sounds and releasing trauma through music and play.
Fundraising Challenges
Equinote is distinct from other nonprofits in that it does not exactly fit into the predefined categories of the Ministries of Culture and Welfare. They are not a cultural body such as a choir or an orchestra, which would enable them to receive several hundreds of thousands of shekels in support. Rather, Equinote receives approximately 100,000 NIS of government funds, and they also get funding from agencies and foundations abroad. In order to continue providing services at this critical time, Equinote must engage in fundraising activities. The organization is hoping to raise 200,000 NIS for the upcoming year.
The Project:
Equinote is raising 200,000 to continue to bring cultural opportunities to the special needs population. Their team of 2 salaried employees and a host of teachers, guides, and performing artists who work on a project basis are committed to providing a platform for talented artists with special needs and provide tailored content for specific groups of children with special needs.
How to Give:
Equinote has teamed up with IsraelGives to provide donors with tax deductible receipts in Israel, Canada, the US, France and UK. Click here to donate
Kosher Status:
Founded in 2018, Equinote is an Israeli nonprofit with Section 46 status and a certificate of proper management. While they usually focus on providing culture to people with special needs, in the wake of the war they have pivoted to provide cultural opportunities for evacuee families which includes many people with special needs (~20%) and to injured soldiers. The music serves to heal the trauma.
Fine Print:
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