Assumptions of Normality: How Three Women with a Disability Changed the Face of Music

Since the last 30 years, women musicians with a disability have remodeled the laws to integrate disability in the professional musical world, changed the way music is presented, understood, and taught, and integrated music as a form of activism. In this chapter, I give three examples of women I interviewed, who transformed the musical landscape through their actions. Evelyn Glennie is the first woman to develop a career as a solo percussionist. She had to show her teachers that deafness would not prevent her from achieving her musical studies. In her TED Talk “How to truly listen” she explained the methods she used to learn music through vibrations in her whole body, that she often presents to music students today. Gaelynn Lea is an American folk singer, violinist, and public speaker, very present on musical stage since winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016. By changing the traditional way of holding her violin, she proved that physical limitations do not mean musical limitations. Lachi is an American singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. She advocates for a better diversity, equity, inclusion, and disability awareness in the music industry. As a blind musician, she faced the lack of role model figure when she was progressing in her career. Today, she wants to hold this role for the next generation of artists with a disability. In conclusion, I situate these three artists in our society, through the lens of gender diversity in the music industry.