ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the lack of inclusion in conservatoria and universities-scenarios that are susceptible to foster discrimination against disabled performers-and the able-bodied prejudice that underpins piano pedagogy. When religious fundamentalism becomes an intrinsic part of a given culture, music practices reflect prejudice towards different belief systems. The field of Western classical music tends to be hostile to people with impairments and even to performers injured on the job. The socio-musical organisation of conservatoria results from the transfer of the industrial model of corporations and markets to an educational setting. In the socio-musical organisation of classical music, the contextual nature of disability exacerbates the cultural selective unawareness towards disabled performers. Traditional music pedagogy has embedded twentieth-century piano technical treatises with unquestionable authority. The universal assumption of the biomechanical model of the body is the first transgression against disabled pianists commonly found in twentieth-century piano technical treatises.
