Ilana Tapper is a neurodivergent and physically disabled viola player, currently doing a postgraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Having grown up in Northamptonshire, where there is a “very strong music service”, she recalled an early memory of a string quartet coming into her primary school to encourage the children to take lessons. Interest piqued, she began playing in a county orchestra as a teenager, where she discovered that she wanted to be a professional viola player – an instrument chosen by Ilana’s mum, “I have a twin sister, so she didn’t want to carry two cellos or basses, and she wasn’t keen on violins, so she agreed to viola”.
On playing the viola, Ilana told us about the camaraderie that comes with being part of an orchestra section,
“My absolute favourite thing is when the entire string section gets a gorgeous melody that isn’t too technical, and you can just let your brain float around in it”
Ilana before a recent concert
Three years into her four-year course at music college, she took a year out, and this was when she got her viola, a custom wheelchair, and a formal diagnosis for ADHD among other things. The most important thing for Ilana during this time was learning that some things are difficult for her because she is disabled, not because she a bad player or wasn’t trying hard enough. She remembers quite a few injuries gained when she was younger as a result of “fixating on unrealistic goals, and not playing well enough for my own standards can be quite overwhelming”.
Playing chamber music, she discovered that it is much easier for her to play with people who have a similar neurotype compared to with a neurotypical group. Through all this, Ilana notes how lucky she was to have viola role models who where both neurodivergent and disabled – “that’s definitely helped make me the player I am today”.
The viola is not a standardised instrument, and there are quite a few things that can be changed on them “to suit non-standard bodies, before you leave the realm of traditional instruments entirely”, Ilana told us. The first adaptations that she used as a teenager (although they would not have been labelled as adaptations at the time), were using a cello bow with a big piece of foam on the handle to help with her hand control and a tall chin rest.
“Recently, I met a student with dwarfism playing a large viola strung with octave strings in order to create a cello small enough for her, and I had a really interesting chat with the Koalaa representative at OHMI about their prosthetics specifically for string players”
The adaptations made to the viola Ilana uses today are more for the condition that results in her using a wheelchair, rather than the wheelchair itself, and any adaptations made she explained, “would change a fair bit depending on why someone was using a wheelchair”. Ilana plays quite a small viola, a commission made by Helen Michetschlager in 2022.
The scroll is small, designed to reduce the weight at the end and the shoulders are very round so that getting around the instrument doesn’t cause too much strain. The neck is almost the size of a violin neck, which reduces tension In her left hand when playing and she uses silver ring splints that help her hands move correctly. Adjustments have also been made to her shoulder rest to reduce the weight of the instrument as a whole.
Image credit: Helen Michetschläger
Ilana’s dad has helped to create adaptations for her viola over the years; he has built and added pieces to the instrument as well as adjusted its existing elements – filing down her chin rest to the exact shape she wanted for example. Ilana continued,
“The main thing that I use now are small rectangular pieces of micarta which go on my shoulder rest. They move the pivot point of the viola without affecting the shoulder rest, which significantly reduces the weight of the viola at my left hand. It makes it easier to hold the viola, and I don’t feel the need to secure it so tightly with my neck”
During the covid years, Ilana’s dad got really into creating more instrument adaptations, some of which she doesn’t need for her own playing, but he has designed a couple of different bridges that can be used to help inexpensive, small violas to produce a better sound. She told us that he has also be in conversation with Thomas Tschirren, who created a fiberglass shoulder support for holding a trombone, about adapting the design to suit a viola or violin. If successful, this adaptation would support the full weight of the viola and be tailored to fit the individual.
Video of Thomas Tschirren. Source: The OHMI Trust
We asked Ilana about the barriers that she, and other wheelchair users, have faced when accessing music making. Firstly, she noted that multiple conservatories across the UK have big problems with building accessibility, issues with lift maintenance for example. Additionally, she told us that they do not always offer pastoral support that is robust or nuanced enough to help disabled musicians access what they need or figure out what help they could benefit from. After working through her own anxieties and taking the time to figure our what she needed, Ilana expressed how supportive the RNCM have been to her throughout her studies.
In 2024, she got in touch with RNS Moves, who allowed her to sit in on some rehearsals and have a chat with the musicians. Meeting other disabled musicians had a huge impact on Ilana, helping her to envision a future for herself as a disabled performer, at a point where she was feeling quite boxed into music therapy or teaching. She has also found great value in speaking to other musicians with disabilities like her own, “Almost every musician I’ve met who has ADHD for example, has struggled with rhythm and keeping consistent tempo at some point in their journey. It’s really validating to understand that some things you find difficult are not a skill issue”. She encourages other disabled musicians to talk to peers and professional,
“There are enough disabled professional musicians now that someone will have already worked around the same difficulties you are having, and in my experience, most of them will be willing to share their solutions with you”
When asked about services that she would signpost other disabled musicians to, Ilana recommended, Drake Music and the OHMI Trust who work specifically on providing adaptations, and inclusive music ensembles such as the National Youth Open Orchestra, Paraorchestra, BSO Resound or RNS Moves.
We believe that everyone should have equal access to music making. The Take it away scheme is our long-running, national initiative that enables anyone to purchase a musical instrument – or pay for tuition, equipment and software – by spreading the cost over 10 months with interest-free finance. With Take it away, more people are able to own the instrument they otherwise would not be able to afford, thus supporting their musical development.
Ilana said that the service provided by Take it away is “invaluable” to disabled musicians, “especially given the government’s recent stance on cuts to disability benefits and the cost-of-living crisis”. According to the Scope Disability Price Tag for 2024, disabled households need, on average, an additional £1,010 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households – “a lot of support for low income households has income caps that would prevent any significant savings towards an instrument”, Ilana added. She knows people who have had to spend any savings they had set aside for an instrument on unexpected disability support, such as wheelchairs or hearing aids instead.
“Funding schemes often come with very specific grant requirements such as age limits, proof of income and career aspirations, all of which can be difficult to predict, especially as a disabled musician. Other instrument loan schemes that extend past the age of 18 are often contingent on having a place in higher education or are run by institutions themselves”
As Ilana touched on before, these spaces can be difficult for disabled musicians to access and can leave players vulnerable to losing their instrument if they can’t continue their studies. Take it away, on the other hand, is open to all musicians and can be accessed at any point within a person’s musical journey.
By giving people the opportunity to spread the cost of their purchase through a scheme like Take it away, higher quality musical instruments are much more accessible to more people. Ilana noted that “a high quality instrument that easily produces what you are trying to express will help a player to be taken more seriously in an industry which is quite hard to navigate as a disabled musician”.
Image credit: Helen Michetschläger
We asked Ilana where she would like to see her musical career going, to which she responded with her biggest goal – to see a wheelchair user in one of the mainstream orchestras at the BBC Proms at some point in her lifetime, noting that she would love this to be her, but doesn’t really mind who it is, as long as it happens.
“The Paraorchestra have of course now had their second Prom programmed, but it’s not at the Royal Albert Hall and I think it’s important to see disabled musicians in the mainstream spaces as well as ones we’ve created for ourselves. Similarly, I’d also love to play at a Paralympics Opening Ceremony”
With thanks to Ilana Tapper. This interview has been edited for clarity, length and readability.
Index
Chamber Music – Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room
Scroll – The scroll of the viola is the very top of the instrument and can be identified by its characteristic curl design
Micarta – A composite resin material often used for knife handles
Bridge – A device that supports the strings on a stringed musical instrument and transmits the vibration of those strings to another structural component of the instrument
– To find out more about Ilana and her music, you can find her on Instagram @ilana_tapper_plays_viola or sign up to her blog Violas and Wheels where you can also pledge your support.
– For more information on the OHMI Trust, head to their website, or find them on Instagram.
– To read the full blog by Helen Michetschläger about the making of Ilana’s Viola, click HERE
– To learn more about Take it away, and how you can spread the cost of your next musical instrument, click the banner below
