Charlotte White, Bronze Arts Award, St Rose's School and Drake Music

The inspirational student who gained international recognition against all the odds

Charlotte White is a former student of St Rose’s School, an OCNSWR approved centre in Stroud, where she became involved with Drake Music, who refer to her as ‘one of their stars’. 

Her outstanding work in performing and composing music was awarded in 2009 with a Bronze Arts Award from Trinity College London.

She also gained international recognition when she was asked to compose the music for the Northern Lights music festival production "Havmannen's Sønn” in Tromsø, Norway.

Charlotte’s accomplishments are all the more impressive considering she plays every note using only the slightest movement of her head and thumbs.  An accident when she was 11 left her severely physically disabled. 

Charlotte joined St Rose’s School when she was 16 and was introduced to Drake Music, who use technology to enable disabled people to participate in music.  With their support and guidance, she learnt how to use thumb switches and slight head movements to trigger and control musical notes.  Charlotte was initially keen to pursue GCSE music but Drake Music perceived a number of potential barriers to this. 

As Doug Bott from Drake Music explains,“Charlotte was really keen to pursue GCSE music, but we only had a very limited amount of time to work with her each week…Furthermore we perceived a number of potential barriers to GCSE music that the exam boards seemed unwilling to positively engage with at that time.  For example, how could we be sure that her particular use of Assistive Music Technology would be acceptable within the performance elements of the GCSE course? How could Charlotte independently access the necessary learning resources, most of which were only available on paper or as PDF documents?”

It was partly their early work with Charlotte that prompted Drake Music to develop their Introduction to Music course, which is regionally accredited by Open College Network South West Region (OCNSWR). They are also beginning to work with music examining boards to develop national accreditation for music performed electronically. They have been working with OCNSWR as part of their DM Education initiative to accredit their courses, which enabledisabled students to achieve accredited outcomes at KS3/4.

Her right thumb controls another switch that turns the instrument sounds on and off, so that when she is not playing she can move her head without playing sounds.  The software used is all programmed by Drake Music in collaboration with Charlotte, in order to most appropriately meet her needs.

Doug Bott says “My aim was always for the technology to provide Charlotte with an appropriate level of physical support while still presenting significant intellectual and technical challenges for her in terms of memorising and playing the music”.

Gradually, with support from the Drake Music team and Charlotte’s own practice and commitment she has achieved a skill and accuracy using technology similar to that of those that use conventional instruments.  To celebrate this, Drake Music recorded Charlotte performing a Bach cello suite and uploaded it to the internet, generating a buzz of interest in the musical community and showcasing what was possible for musicians with disabilities, using this technology. Watch a recording of her performance below.

Although Charlotte wasn’t able to access conventional music examinations, she has received a Bronze Arts Award from Trinity College London, marking her incredible achievements.  For Charlotte, music has been a significant factor in her rehabilitation, as she explains.  "Music inspired me in the belief that I could achieve anything. I became more enthusiastic and had much more of a drive, and wanted to break the barriers and do the same things as everyone else, rather than just being bracketed as a disabled person".

The Arts Award team at Trinity College were really pleased to have a disabled student follow their course, and you can read Charlotte’s Arts Award story on their website.

Charlotte is now studying for her BA in Social Policy and Criminology at University of Kent, Canterbury, where she also volunteers as a mentor.  You can find out more about Charlotte’s remarkable story in the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Charlotte White’s Musical Fight’, available to listen to online.

For more information on Drake Music and the DM Education initiative please visit the Drake Music website or contact Doug Bott or Jonathan Westrup on 0117 353 3614, email dmed@drakemusic.org.

For more information on getting your course accredited, call 01752 831500 or speak to your Development Manager.