Ora has unveiled the next phase of its collaboration with the blind community, releasing a series of short films about the work of the Academy of Music for the Blind (AMB).
Massachusetts-based Ora provides development services for ophthalmic drugs and medical devices. Late last year, the company launched The Blind Canvas Project with BlindCAN, a nonprofit that provides opportunities and training to people who are blind and visually impaired. The collaboration has resulted in videos about nonprofit music school the AMB.
One video, which lasts almost nine minutes, features interviews with AMB employees and the parents of children who attend the school, plus footage of kids singing and playing music. David Pinto, co-founder and executive director of the AMB, discussed the effect the school has on kids and their families.
“The families come, they call me, they're devastated. Then they come to the academy and they're sitting together with a dozen other parents who are in the same boat, who were feeling the same thing, but are not, and they kind of pick up a little bit,” Pinto said. “Then they see their child open up for the first time and when you see that transition, that's quite remarkable.”
Another video features an extended interview with Pinto. The final two films focus on Acabella, the vocal performance group at the AMB. One video includes an interview with children who attend the school. The kids discuss both their participation in Acabella and their broader experience of moving through a world designed for and dominated by sighted people.
The other video shows a performance by Acabella at an event held alongside the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting. Ora said the event marked a series of firsts—flying, navigating a busy city, performing at an iconic Chicago blues venue—for most of the young musicians in the vocal group.