| ♫ | Music for Autism is an international organization committed to raising public awareness and improving the quality of life of individuals with autism and their families through music. |
| ♫ | Our charity in the U.K. and U.S. sponsors interactive concerts, specifically tailored to be “autism friendly” and to enrich the lives of those with autism through exposure to high quality music performed by professional musicians. |
| ♫ | Family members have told us that these concerts fill a major psychosocial void of having a child with a disability like autism that causes families to limit the possibilities of enriching events that they can and cannot attend with their children. |
| ♫ | We are committed to ensuring that our concerts be accessible to all children and adults with autism and their families. |
| ♫ | Our concerts are thus fully subsidized and are free to all participants with autism and their families. |
| ♫ | We have collaborated with such musicians as the Brentano String Quartet, Dame Felicity Lott, the Grammy-nominated Enso Quartet, Sir James Galway, Steven Isserlis, Jade Simmons, Tony Award Winner Jarrod Emick and many others. |
| ♫ | We currently hold concerts at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, the 92nd Street Y and the McCarton School in New York City; the Eden Institute in Princeton, New Jersey; and the Westview School in Houston, Texas. We will commence concerts this spring at the Ivy Mount School in Washington, DC, and we have preliminary plans to start them in Charlotte, Los Angeles, New Haven and Boston. |
| ♫ | In 2007, the charity was honored for its work by Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said of the charity, “I applaud Music for Autism for enabling children with autism the ability to experience quality music - something that we should all be able to experience - and for giving them the opportunity to listen to music in an environment where no one will be embarrassed... We should celebrate these young people for what they can do as opposed to what they cannot.” |
About John Arthur Greene
Cast in 2009 as Riff in the remake of West Side Story, John Arthur makes his Broadway Debut
under the direction of author and director Arthur Laurents with the New York Post calling him
“damn good.” Born in North Carolina, John Arthur grew up in Plano, TX and Greenwich, CT.
His teenage years were spent training at the prestigious North Carolina Theatre where he was
instrumental in helping to launch the NCT Kids on Broadway, both as a performer and a
fundraiser, producing and directing a KOB Benefit that raised $20,000. John Arthur was seen Off-
Broadway as Johnny in The Johnny and Luke in The Mim. Regionally, he was Jonathan in tick,
tick...BOOM!; Freddie in Chess; Rolf in The Sound of Music and many, many others. On film he
appeared as Blond Kid in Dirt Nap and many others.
Having been cast at age 19 as Action in the Fiftieth Anniversary European Tour of West Side Story he opened with stand out reviews. John Arthur spent a year and half in Europe traveling to Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Switzerland and the UK performing in internationally- celebrated Opera Houses and Dance Theatres including the 3,000 seat Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and the celebrated 1,800 seat Sadler's Wells in London, both sold out performances for the full run. He was under the direction of Choreographer Joey McKneely, a protégé of Jerome Robbins and internationally celebrated Conductor Donald Chan both of whom opened West Side Story at La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy. He has performed with and for numerous celebrities throughout his career.
About Noah Ruttenberg
Noah is an eighth grade student at St. Bernard's School. In the future, he plans to become a
journalist in the fields of travel and world affairs. Ever since he was young(er) he has always
loved helping out with those who are less fortunate than he. He began this work when he and his
friend, Celina Dubin, had the idea of setting up a lemonade stand and giving the profits to the
Robin Hood Foundation, which targets poverty in New York City by finding and funding the
best and most effective programs and partnering with them to maximize their results. Eventually
this idea grew into an annual event called Lemon-Aid in which about 100 families take part
annually. Over the years, Noah and Celina have collected about a quarter of a million dollars. His
relationship with the Robin Hood Foundation remains strong.
Last year was a big year for Noah. Not only was it his Bar Mitzvah, but it was also the year when he was introduced to Music for Autism (M4A). As soon as his mother, Perri Peltz, suggested he give the money from his Bar Mitzvah to M4A he was immediately hooked on the idea of making one's life better through music. When he met Robert Accordino, Noah felt a strong connection to him and was very excited to support M4A. After his Bar Mitzvah, Noah was very pleased with the outcome of $15,000 raised. From here, his relationship with and support of the work of M4A still grows.
