My life is to play and to move forward with lightness | Anja Linder | TEDxParis

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
After becoming paraplegic following an accident, Anja decided to fight to keep playing the harp, an instrument which requires the use of the legs. Through her the "Anjamatique" was born, an instrument taught to the non-disabled people today.

As a small child, sitting on
the lap of my mother

who taught piano in private tuition
in the house of my childhood,

I was rocked by the music,

and I watched all her fingers
browsing the piano keys.

As it was often the same pieces
that was returning,

Schumann, Mozart, Chopin,

I knew the songs by heart
and I corrected the students by whistling.

In my family,

education necessarily involves
learning an instrument,

and I chose the harp at age nine,

after hearing Marielle Nordmann
play a concerto for harp

with the Strasbourg
Philharmonic Orchestra.

The heat, the roundness of tone,
the beauty of the instrument,

and its size which allows
almost to be hidden,

made me fall in love at first sight.

It was this instrument and not another.

After extensive musical studies,

I was awarded with my soprano friend,
Nathalie Gaudefroy,

a first prize in the International
Chamber Music Competition in Arles.

This was followed by two wonderful years,

rich in music, encounters,
trips, laughter, success,

because we were invited
in beautiful festivals

and were receiving a lot of proposals
for interesting projects.

I was leading the so intense
and creative life I have dreamed of

when I was a child.

On July 6, 2001, there was a storm
at a concert where I was a spectator.

A plane tree has fallen upon the audience.

I was knocked to the ground
and immobilized by the branches.

There were many dead,

and I am one of the most
physically affected victims.

Despite the shock of the fall,
I was conscious,

and while trying to free myself
of the branches,

I realized that I was not able
to move my legs.

I immediately thought of the harp,

because the legs are essential
to be able to play.

It is often not known, but the harp
is played with seven pedals.

I saw my life flash before my eyes,

and I was terrified at the thought
of not being able to play.

For to me, in order to live
was necessarily to play the harp.

Following that, I experienced
the two most painful years of my life,

between the hospital
and the rehabilitation center.

I felt like I was in a nightmare,

I had to get out of it
as quickly as possible,

to heal, to control the wheelchair,
and to manage all the negative words.

I was advised at the time
to give up the harp,

because of my inability
to use the pedals,

and to start practicing a parasport
and/or a new instrument as an amateur.

I was told that it would be better
that I make a career as a librarian,

or something sedentary,
because of my poor health.

I was told that any coquetry or femininity
was useless in a wheelchair.

So, knowing that for example,

today where the dress code
was supposed to be jeans and shirt,

I found a way to come
in a long dress and lace,

you can imagine that these words
were almost a pain for me.

And the worst is that they told me

I should give up the wish
to have a fulfilling love life,

because men do not stay
with a woman in a wheelchair.

I chose not to listen to these words.

I did exactly the opposite
of everything they had advised me,

and as soon as I left the center,
I struggle to play again.

In this quest, I had the chance
to meet two men:

Jean-Marie Panterne,
the Director of the Instrumentarium,

and Marc Lamoureux,

an exceptional engineer for whom like me,
the word "impossible" was not admissible.

Together,

we have designed an automatic harp
that would allow me to play again.

This project took two years
to see the light of the day.

We faced some difficulties,
but it was exciting,

because we wanted to have together
a really satisfactory outcome.

It is, beyond our expectations,

as the electro-pneumatic harp
allows you to play

through a simplified use of the pedals,

a much larger repertoire
than the normal harp.

Some composers even wrote
for this new harp,

which is ultimately a step forward
in the history of the instrument.

Its name is "l'anjamatique"

from my first name Anja and automatic,

and I now teach it
at the Strasbourg Conservatory

to non-disabled people.

I lost everything in a second,

and it took years to rebuild
a life that matches my expectations.

This is the case right now.

I am in love and loved,

I play and I teach my instrument,

and I work with talented partners.

In the month of July,
I experienced an incredible moment.

Milan Kundera called me in person,

to tell me he was giving me the permission

to record excerpts from
The Unbearable Lightness of Being,

illustrated by musical pieces
by Schumann, Chopin, and Dvorak.

He told me that he had been moved
by my playing,

and I have perceived those words
as a kind of validation,

a blessing for all these struggles.

I sincerely believe
that all the difficult moments,

as painful as they are,

move us ahead as we aspire to a goal
and we make every effort to get there.

Nobody knows better than you
for what you're made for.

Disability still scares
and I never wanted to recognize myself

in the restricted vision
that some people have about it.

Because it is neither a handicap
nor a difference or a disease

that creates our identity.

It is the energy and the love we put
to accomplish what is dearest to us.

My life is to play
and to move forward with lightness.

(Harp music: "Recuerdos de la Alhambra"
by Francesco Tarrega)

(Applause)