We are delighted to announce that Dr Mat Dalgleish is one of four new trustees to join the OHMI Board.
Born near Birmingham, Mat grew up playing the trumpet and, later, the guitar as a one-handed musician. Since January 2023, Mat has been a Senior Lecturer in Game Audio and Technical Design at Staffordshire University, where he leads the audio provision in the UK’s largest game development department. 
One of the key ways in which Mat expects to make a contribution in his role as OHMI trustee is helping to make the charity’s upcoming competition and 2025 conference the most successful to date. The competition is an important challenge for instrument makers, designers and technicians across the world to create and develop musical instruments that can be played without the use of one hand and arm.
Mat said,
“There have been so many technological advancements since the last OHMI conference in 2018. It’s exciting to think what might result from this year’s submissions and how it might create more choice of instruments for disabled musicians.
It’s really important to me that one-handed players, whatever their age, have agency in choosing their own instrument. As a six-year-old, the trumpet was chosen for me but the guitar turned out to be my real passion.
I was fortunate to progress on it quite quickly but playing the instrument one-handed has occasionally attracted hostility from some who think it should only be played in a traditional way, or by certain players. I really think design can mitigate some of the negative reactions disabled musicians face and look forward to seeing how the charity might challenge them.”
Clare Salters, OHMI’s Chair, added,
“Mat’s professional experience in instrument design combined with his personal experience as a one-handed musician will be a very welcome addition to the OHMI trustee board. We’re also delighted to have the opportunity to gain insights from his outreach work about how the music education sector - universities, music hubs, schools etc - can work together to make music more accessible.”
All at OHMI extend their warmest welcome to Mat.
 
(OHMI’s 2024 competition will be launched in December. Information will be added shortly to OHMI’s Competition page.)

We are delighted to announce that Simon King is one of four new trustees to join the OHMI Board.
Simon is a Chartered Accountant who has held governance, risk and assurance roles in both the public and private sectors. Before working with large corporate and public interest organisations, he had experience as both internal and external auditor for housing associations and charities. He has been a Trustee of an educational trust and is a senior civil servant.
As well as being a member of the main board of trustees, Simon will chair OHMI’s new Finance, Risk and Audit Committee. Comprising a small number of staff and trustees, the role of the new committee will be to provide detailed, expert advice to the board and support for staff in managing the charity’s finances.
Simon said,
“I have no background in music, teaching or disability so I guess I’m quite different to other OHMI trustees! What I think I can bring to the role is my ability to see things differently, inside the charity but outside. For my part, I don’t just want to give assurances that the finances are in good order; I also want to explore how I can raise funds myself and help bring new instruments to life as a result.”
Clare Salters, OHMI’s Chair, added,
“Simon has a wealth of experience of governance and risk in organisations significantly bigger than OHMI so we know there is a lot he can bring to the table. His external perspective will also provide a valuable challenge function for the rest of us. I am particularly grateful to him for chairing our new Finance, Risk and Audit Committee to ensure the trustees are fully across the detail of the charity's finances.”
All at OHMI extend their warmest welcome to Simon. 

OHMI is delighted to announce the appointment of its new Instrument Development Manager, Megan Steinberg. The appointment signals our ambitions to accelerate delivery in developing new adapted musical instruments and enabling equipment for disabled musicians of all ages.
 
It is a complex piece of work that requires building strong relationships with instrument makers and disabled musicians alike, and Megan brings some strong credentials. She is a composer and turntablist who works with professional and amateur disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent musicians to create new and experimental music, including as part of her PhD studies in Composition at Royal Northern College of Music in association with Drake Music. Her work has led to her recognition by the BRIT Awards 2024 as a trailblazer in music, inclusion and accessibility (Mastercard shines a light on music trailblazers ahead of The BRIT Awards 2024).
 
Megan’s role of OHMI Instrument Development Manager will involve visiting independent instrument makers, including students, to progress work on bespoke commissions for particular adapted instruments and enabling equipment, as well as larger organisations on mass production opportunities.
 
Megan said, “As someone who has disabilities, living my life in a creative way is second nature. Through necessity, disabled people must find workarounds all the time. This has undoubtedly led to a huge amount of progress in technology and I’m really excited about the role I can play in helping to progress new instruments for disabled musicians. I know OHMI has a long list of adapted instruments and enabling equipment it would like to evolve, from a one-handed saxophone to bow and violin holders and a tenor horn stand. I love instruments so I can’t wait to get started!”
 
Rachel Wolffsohn, OHMI’s General Manager, added,
 
“Megan joins us at the perfect time as we prepare for the December launch of our 2025 competition, set up to challenge instrument makers, designers and technicians to create and develop musical instruments that can be played without the use of one hand and arm. (Information will be added shortly to OHMI’s Competition page.)
 
“Having a dedicated staff member managing the large number of projects we have in process will enable us to bring each one to fruition more quickly and enable a greater range of options of instruments that allow full participation in musical life to be available for those that need them.  Instruments that emulate traditional instruments but meet the individual needs of the performer have always been at the heart of OHMI’s work, and Megan’s appointment is an exciting new step on that path.”
 
Learn more about OHMI at: http://www.ohmi.org.uk.

​We are delighted to announce that Lia Mice is one of four new trustees to join the OHMI Board.
Lia is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, educator and maker of oversized musical instruments whose works range from live A/V performance, composition, digital musical instrument design, installations and interactive sonic sculpture to academic papers. She is also the Programme Leader of the MA Creative Music Production at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, London.
 
Australian by birth, Lia made her home in the UK some nine years ago, with the opportunity to perform in so many different and internationally renowned venues being a particular pull.
Lia first become involved in OHMI in 2018 when, as part of her PhD in Media and Arts Technology at Queen Mary University of London, she worked on a six-month project to develop a concept for a one-handed violin. The project gave her a greater awareness of the importance of inclusive teaching and assessing students’ needs.

Lia said, “As a programme leader of a Master’s in creative music production and as a music tutor, I am committed to developing and championing inclusive music technology and teaching practices. Since working with OHMI six years ago, the work of the charity has always been on my radar so it’s great to now be invited on as a trustee.”

Clare Salters, OHMI’s Chair, added,
“We’re delighted to welcome Lia to OHMI’s Board. Her incredible knowledge of building instruments together with her PhD in instrument design will be so valuable to OHMI, not least in developing our biennial competition and assessing the submissions of papers and presentations for our major conference on Music & Physical Disability, taking place in Birmingham in March.”
​
All at OHMI extend their warmest welcome to Lia.

We are delighted to announce that Liane Todd is one of four new trustees to join the OHMI Board.
Liane has lived, studied and worked her whole life in North East England, both
performing and teaching. She studied Classical Music at Newcastle University with clarinet as her principal instrument, along with flute and saxophone. Music has been a lifelong passion and she has played in all kinds of theatre, symphony and jazz orchestras as well as folk gatherings. She worked as a peripatetic woodwind teacher for Northumberland County Council for 26 years and as the exam coordinator for music examination board ABRSM in Alnwick and Morpeth.
 
Liane’s career was dramatically cut short seven years ago. Whilst performing in a theatre pit orchestra, she was hit with a quarter of a tonne of scenery equipment, leaving her with complex regional pain syndrome, a long-lasting condition affecting her entire left side.
 
Whilst undergoing treatment after her accident, Liane’s occupational therapist put her in touch with OHMI. OHMI’s General Manager Rachel Wolffsohn encouraged her to hire the one-handed clarinet on a short-term basis to see if she would take to it, even hand delivering the instrument from Birmingham.
 
Having lived experience of adapting to a one-handed musical instrument following disability is something which Liane sees as a particular strength in her new trustee role. As she explains:
 
“Losing the ability to play my clarinet, flute and saxophone was almost like a bereavement but the encouragement of everyone at OHMI has given me new purpose.

“When I think back to my time as a music teacher, I think of those pupils with particular needs who would have benefitted from the opportunity to play an adapted musical instrument. I should have made it my business to find out and now I’m determined not just to give something back to OHMI – however important that is to me – but to learn more about the wide range of adapted musical instruments and enabling equipment on offer, and to bring the charity a little further north!”

Clare Salters, OHMI’s Chair, comments,
“Liane has a lot to offer OHMI as she joins the board. As well as her experience as a performer and educator, her voice as a previous user of OHMI’s services will be particularly valuable to developing the Trust’s work and ensuring we keep aligned to the needs of our beneficiaries.”
 
All at OHMI extend their warmest welcome to Liane.