The Muse Seek Project: Changing Education for Deaf Children Through Music

Event time: 
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - 3:00pm
Location: 
Yale's Environmental Science Center See map
21 Sachem Street
New Haven, CT
Event description: 

Maria Batlle is a social entrepreneur, film maker, sculptor, and painter from the Dominican Republic.  In 2013, she created The Muse Seek Project to make a significant impact in the education system for the deaf through music.  Every year, Ms. Batlle explores the benefits of music in education together with Yo Yo Ma, The Silk Road Ensemble, teaching artists, and educators from all over the world at Harvard University.

She directed an original documentary film about her latest initiative,“Whale Muse Seek,” which opened up the world of live whale music to deaf children, an endeavor without precedent.  It was described as a “brilliant initiative for deaf children” by Forbes magazine, as a “revolution in education” by the Dominican Minister of Culture, and presented as a “successful case of accessible tourism in the Dominican Republic” by the Dominican Ministry of Tourism.

In October 2015, the newspapers El Diario de NY and La Opinión de Los Angeles, acclaimed her work in this way:  “A hurricane called Maria is revolutionizing education for the deaf in the D.R. and soon the world.”