Maia Kim is passionate about helping Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) students experience and enjoy music because of her own passion for music. She has played the cello since elementary school, and is currently is member of the orchestra at Woodson High School.
Having been around DHH students throughout her school years, Maia has become more aware of the challenges that these students face to feel included in their community of peers and in society as a whole. Believing that music is “about community, creativity, and connection,” Maia brainstormed ideas with her orchestra director, Ms. Wilcox, to make music more accessible to DHH students at Woodson.
Maia partnered with Ms. Wilcox and Music: Not Impossible, a project of Not Impossible Labs that uses a device called Vibrotextile. The device consists of a full-body wearable harness, with a vest, two wristbands and two ankle bands. The harness has eight distinct vibrations zones across the body, which are carefully tuned to convey different musical elements in the orchestra, such as violins, violas, cellos, bass and percussion. “This allows the wearer to physically feel the music in real time, creating an immersive ‘Surround Body Experience,’ mirroring the complexity and emotional range of live performance,” said Maia.
Last May, Maia spearheaded an effort to bring the Vibrotextile harnesses to Woodson so the DHH students could experience a live ensemble performance. “At first, the DHH students were apprehensive to wear the harnesses, but once they experienced it, it caught on,” said Maia. “The result was deeply moving. Students laughed, cried, and danced, feeling connected to something they’d only been able to observe from the outside.”
Maia hopes that Woodson will continue working with Music: Not Impossible to bring the harnesses to the school on a more permanent basis, using them in different settings such as concerts and school-wide assemblies. “We are proud to be one of the first high schools in the nation to use this technology,” she said. “And we were honored to be invited to present our project at the Virginia Music Educators Association conference last November, where we got to demonstrate the possibilities of the harnesses to music teachers from across the state.”
Maia believes that her work with making music more accessible to DHH students contributes to building peace by emphasizing humanity and understanding. And that breaks down barriers and creates spaces where everyone feels seen as valued. “Why should a person’s inability to hear deny access to the kind of community that music can provide?,” she said. “This project has reminded me of the power of truly trying to understand others – not by assuming or being content with the way things are, but by listening, feeling and meeting people where they are.”
After graduation this June, Maia plans to attend college and find ways to increase awareness of how music can be a more inclusive experience for all people on campus.