The Brain Charity

In this blog post, composer and violinist Ruby Colley reveals the inspiration for her brand-new work, Hello Halo. This composition is based on her brother Paul’s alternative forms of communication, and was created in collaboration with Paul. Ruby will discuss the piece at The Brain Charity’s Neurodiversity Arts Festival later this month.

My brother Paul and I have a sibling relationship. But it’s not a typical one. We don’t fight. We don’t steal each others stuff. We don’t cover each others back or tell on each other to our parents. I went out and rebelled as teenager, Paul didn’t.

I speak. Paul doesn’t, or at least not in a typical way.

Growing up, it was hard to have what felt like a one-way relationship with Paul. I would speak and I would get nothing back and it felt lonely. Yet, somehow, I understood him, and he, me.

Paul has a repertoire of key words, sounds, gestures that allows him to communicate with those around him, yet to really understand Paul, one has to leave enough space and silence to truly observe the subtle forms of connection and communication he is projecting.

We communicated on a frequency that was subtle and has evolved and refined over 40 years. I know him intimately, yet he is a complete enigma.

He will often be imperceptible, but will offer you a ‘glance’ that says “I see you and I know what you’re talking about”. A wry smile follows.

I have learnt over the years to read these cues and to build on them, where there is now room for humour, disagreements, embarrassment and most of all love.

Hello Halo at the Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room

Hear Ruby talk about her new work on 26 September 2024 as part of the Liverpool Neurodiversity Arts Festival. She will also perform previous compositions inspired by natural environments.

Tickets: £6

Book here

Paul was diagnosed with non-specific cognitive impairment, along with Autism when he was 18 months old. I was 3 at the time.

Ever since, our parents rallied around him to get him the best start in life and have been fought for him ever since. Around the time of his diagnosis, I started learning the violin.

I scratched ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ on repeat in all its variations as he attentively listened.

As I improved, Paul was still there sitting on the floor listening.

One day, on a long car journey to Wales, when he was about 6 years old, he starting singing.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star came out pitch perfect, like a choir boy in the back seat.

We all gaped in astonishment. It was my first lesson that Paul knew and understood far more than we realised.

It also told me that his processing time, may just take a little longer than the rest of us.

Paul’s words and verbalisations are expressive. He also invites those around him to express themselves in a similar way.

The people who support Paul and help him access the world can be found almost singing words, observances to him that often mirror his own tonal vocalisations.

I hear this as music in its own right. I wanted to make of more this in an attempt to collate all Paul’s various communication methods into one place. An archive if you will, that include his sounds, gestures, words – past and present, and the sounds of those around him, to make a music map of Paul’s lived experience.

How we understand Paul takes patience and a lot of observation. It is my hope that this piece will draw us into his world and help us all question a little what our preconceived ideas about language is and what it is to be human.

An evening with Ruby Colley

Hello Halo, a collaboration with vocal ensemble Exaudi, will premiere next year. Ruby will be in conversation with writer Kirsteen McNish about the piece on September 26th at Liverpool Philharmonic as part of The Brain Charity’s Neurodiversity Arts Festival. Click here to buy tickets or click here to see what else is on as part of the Neurodiversity Arts Festival: a festival of beautiful thinking.