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Julia LaGrand is a violinist and disability activist from Grand Rapids, MI. She has soloed with orchestras including the Holland Symphony, the Kent Philharmonic, and the Baroque on Beaver Festival Orchestra; she has also played in master classes for violinists including Midori and Stefan Jackiw. In 2020, she won first prize at the Bella International Music Competition. She was featured on NPR’s From the Top and she also co-hosted and co-created an episode of this show featuring young disabled musicians, which was featured in the Boston Globe as one of the “10 Most Memorable Classical Music Moments of 2023.” Julia studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Miriam Fried, and past teachers include Danielle Belen and Grigory Kalinovsky. Julia speaks about disability frequently in educational, commercial, and conference settings, including to recent audiences at Northeastern University, ExpressWorks International, and the national conference of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Téa Renee is a multifaceted/multi-genre singer-songwriter, whose intricate and intimate storytelling takes the listener on a healing journey. Her lyrics encompass the range of human experience and emotion. The rich and captivating melodies she creates weave together stories of love, loss, depression, and hope. Téa Renee’s songwriting paints vivid pictures that expand beyond the notes on the page. Her clever storytelling is cinematic and powerful; to hear her songs is to watch a film unfold.

Cheuk Him “Anson” Tang is an accomplished pianist who is also a wheelchair user. As a recipient of an Individual Scholarship under the Lee Hysan Foundation, Anson is currently studying Bachelor of Music in Royal College of Music (RCM), London, under the tutelage of Professor Nigel Clayton at RCM. He made history as the first wheelchair user to join RCM’s keyboard faculty.

Anson has traveled to various countries to study with renowned pianists such as Piers Lane, Artur Pizzaro, Carlo Garte, and more. He also is frequently invited to perform in public and was a Green Leaf Artist under the Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong from 2015 to 2017. He gave his first piano recital in Hong Kong in 2017 and has participated in various music and art festivals, including SPARK festival in 2021 organized by The British Council Hong Kong and the Head-on Photo Festival in 2022 by the Royal College of Music.

Anson has cooperated with renowned musicians and arts groups, including the celebrated violinist Midori Gotō, Hong Kong pianist Ms. Colleen Lee, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Asian Chamber Orchestra, and more.

Kapono Wong is an ukulele musician from Honolulu, Hawai’i. At two years old, he had a hearing impairment which was surgically corrected. With a learning disability and ADHD, he was placed in special education. His special ed teacher said he would never go to college. He is now attending Berklee College of Music.

Kapono started playing the ukulele at the age of five. He won international ukulele competitions while busking in Waikiki and performing at various venues. Kapono was a guest musician at Blue Note Waikiki and on a local television program with his mentor, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. He has been listed as one of the “HOT 100 Unsigned Live-Performing Artists in the U.S.” in Music Connection Magazine. While attending community college, he earned a Hawaiian Music Certificate and taught a visually impaired person to perform.

Kapono hopes to spread the aloha spirit with this four-string instrument, the ukulele, also known as the “Instrument of Aloha.”