Three young Scottish female musicians with sight loss have just released their first CD to celebrate the bi-centenary of Louis Braille, inventor of the famous system of raised dots that allowed blind people to read again.
One track, 'Letter to Louis', even includes a braille typewriter as a musical instrument.
The group, ZASS, is made up of:
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Sally Clay, an award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist who trains disabled people in professional music theatre.
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Amy Moar, who studies classical and jazz piano, jazz voice, percussion, clarsach and composition at the City of Edinburgh Music School.
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Zoë Moskal Guy, who has been performing solo since she was nine, and has sang with the Scottish National Girls Choir.
Sally and Amy are blind and both read braille music. Zoe has severe sight loss and is registered blind but is going through mainstream school and can read reasonably sized print.
ZASS first sang together at the Scottish Parliament in March as part of the bi-centenary celebrations for Braille. The event was such a success they went on to perform to even greater acclaim at the Institut Francais d'Ecosse in Edinburgh, where people in the audience asked if they had any CDs.
"So we went on to make this one," explains Sally. "Except for the closing track, we each perform our own compositions."
The CD, entitled 'Join the Dots', consists of songs, mostly with keyboard backing and vocal harmonies, plus a couple of instrumental fantasies and a closing capella chant.
Sally (29), who lives in Glasgow, said: "Music satisfies the human need for stories without having to use words. The most powerful emotions and experiences can be conveyed through a single note or phrase. And it's a way for me to make as much noise as I like without being told off."
Zoe (17), who lives in North Berwick, said: "Music is one of the centrepieces of my life. I immerse myself in it every day. Because of my vision I do find reading music more challenging than the average person. I've never been quite able to play off the sheet or sight read and from time to time this saddens me. But most of the time I just accept it and feel grateful for my ability to sing and play be ear."
Amy (17), who lives in Edinburgh, said: "I was born blind but I don't feel that not having vision affects my musicianship. Music is very important to me as it is the thing that makes me feel really happy. I use it as a stress-buster. I also hope to make a living through my music."
There are too many urban myths surrounding how sight loss affects the ability to play an instrument, insists Sally. "You don't need sight to play a piano, the geography of the instrument can be learnt 'kinaesthetically', that is through the act of playing the thing. I've read braille music since I was 16 and deeply regret not having learnt it earlier. I'd like children with sight loss to learn music braille at the same time as their sighted peers learn print."
Fifty per cent of the £9.99 price of each 'Join the Dots' CD sold will be donated to the country's leading sight loss charity, the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
Press Release issued: 15th October 2009.