Rosśa Crean

The Autism Advocacy Series amplifies the voices of individuals who have autism and are primarily nonverbal through the commission and creation of brand-new art song (music for voice and piano). This groundbreaking initiative is coming to Chicago for the first time in 2020, after three years of successful world premiere events in Cincinnati, OH.

All composers this year are based in Chicago!

Rosśa Crean, Meg Huskin, and Ben Krause composed settings of texts written by: Nina Szabo, age 10 Emily Friend, age 10 Aarush Srivastava, age 15 Darren Stella, age 19

All these youth have autism and are primarily nonverbal/nonspeaking. They communicate by spelling out their thoughts on a letterboard or iPad in a process known as the Rapid Prompting Method.

Come hear their powerful words amplified through our composers' beautiful settings of their poetry!

Performers for this concert are: Olivia Skaff, soprano Emma Smart, mezzo-soprano Nick Ward, baritone Christina Giuca Krause, piano

ABOUT THE EVENT: The concert will last about 90 minutes with one 15 minute intermission. Afterwards, we will host a post-concert reception!

Our concerts are inclusive of neurotypical patrons as well as those on the spectrum. Our sensory accommodations include:

-large concert halls where everyone can spread out and move around as needed -a sensory-retreat area outside the concert hall with sensory items (such as fidgets and beanbags) -no lighting changes during the performance -NO CLAPPING--audience members are encouraged to show their enthusiasm for the performance by snapping their fingers or waving their hands in the air

For those with sound sensitivities, we welcome you to bring headphones and fidgets into the concert hall and enjoy the concert however suits you best!

If you are attending one of our events and have questions about accommodations and accessibility, please contact us at contact@lynxproject.org or 513-443-2459