Malibu jazz pianist Lisa Hilton wrapped up her East Coast tour with a performance at Berklee College of Music’s Café 939 in Boston last Thursday. The concert was part of a series demonstrating the growing collaboration between Perkins School for the Blind, based in Watertown, Mass., and Berklee College of Music.
Hilton has been working with students at Perkins for a number of years, and has recently gotten to know visually impaired students at Berklee. She makes working with music students who are blind one of her priorities.
“I improvise every time I sit down at the piano,” Hilton said. “People who are visually impaired improvise every day of their lives. Our society has made tremendous strides in opening doors for women and members of minority groups. It’s time we focused similar attention on people with disabilities. My job is to use music to reach out to show the world the wonderful music we can make together no matter how we see the notes.”