ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the reception of non-disabled audiences to the performance of disabled musicians in terms of overcoming narratives. The burden upon disabled people of behaving as able-bodied also implies a pressure to deny pain as an attempt to relieve the anxiety of those who do not experience it. The chapter utilizes the participation of Nobuyuki Tsujii, a Japanese pianist with a visual impairment, in the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, and the career of the Australian pianist David Helfgott as case studies. The expression 'overcoming a disability' is Overcoming narratives foster the notion of 'personal triumph over a personal condition'. The chapter analyses the transition from normalcy to disability and the influence of disability by ageing in the performing aspects of music. Overcoming narratives perpetuate the misguided notion that personal drive and motivation are substitutes for inclusive artistic practice.
