Interview with Paul by ArtMakers on KYMN Radio, March 7, 9 A.M. CST
Andrew has been one of my music students for at least nine or 10 years; he is blind and handicapped, so he is unable to play guitar, but he can play a number of other musical instruments, including autoharp (the focus of our lessons). He has a great ear for music, remembers chords and lyrics very well, and can transpose on the fly.
Andrew’s parents, Jim Rossow and Betsy Spethman, started the organization, ArtMakers, to help people with disabilities have opportunities to be involved in arts and community.
Betsy and Andrew regularly interview people in Northfield, Minnesota, a two-college town (where I live, also home to St. Olaf and Carleton colleges); the interviews are broadcast and archived on KYMN Radio in a show called “Townies Radio.”
Andrew and his father Jim performed together in a local “Shakespeare in the Park” production of Macbeth, in which Jim played King Duncan, and Andrew played a wounded sergeant. Jim was also a professional actor and theater professional, and they both gave memorable performances. It was very clever of the director to include Andrew as the sergeant, and as wounded, so that it made sense for him to be in bandages and led onstage in part by another actor, so it did not occur to the audience to ask, “Why is a handicapped person playing the sergeant?” Instead, Andrew and his disability were woven seamlessly into the performance.
Andrew doesn’t know much about Hamlet, but he certainly knows “The Lion King,” and he and Betsy asked good questions about my work with Bible allusions in Hamlet. It was great fun to sit down with them and talk about my work.
Images from ArtMakers Instagram pages:
L: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci-Sd28OYZv/
R: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjYiDLhOdgg/
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