{"id":6888,"date":"2021-08-17T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T00:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=6888"},"modified":"2021-11-27T21:44:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T03:44:39","slug":"matthew-whitaker-releases-his-3rd-album-connections-finishes-his-2nd-year-at-juilliard-and-his-1st-interview-in-the-blind-abilities-studio-meet-matthew-whitaker-musician-extraordinaire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=6888","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Whitaker Releases His 3rd Album, Connections, Finishes His 2nd Year at Juilliard and His 1st Interview in the Blind Abilities Studio! Meet Matthew Whitaker  Musician Extraordinaire!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_2016\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6888-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=6902\">Full Transcript<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Show Summary:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew Whitaker started playing piano at age 3 and has been studying and practicing music ever since. He plays all types of music and Jazz is the place where he likes to reside as he has the freedom to improvise. Matthew has just released his 3<sup>rd<\/sup>&nbsp;album, Connections, and talks about the recording process, the people he worked with and how his original songs came about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew takes us through his arrangements, time shifts and his instruments surrounding him in his studio. Matthew also stresses how he does not let his Blindness hold him back. From rock climbing, skiing&nbsp;&nbsp;to touring the world and entertaining people with his music, Matthew always finds the time to take a break and we caught him at just the right time for this interview. His 2<sup>nd<\/sup>&nbsp;year at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.juilliard.edu\/\">The Juilliard School<\/a>&nbsp;and his 3<sup>rd<\/sup>&nbsp;record now complete, Matthew joined Jeff and Pete in the Blind Abilities Studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn about Matthew\u2019s musical journey, his passion for music and his wide range of musical instruments&nbsp;&nbsp;that fill his studio. Most importantly, you get a chance to meet Matthew Whitaker, a 20 year old musician who just happens to be Blind. And, as you will find out, a pretty nice guy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find out more about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.matthewwhitaker.net\/\">Matthew Whitaker on his web site<\/a>&nbsp;and be sure to check out Matthew\u2019s music wherever you listen to music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And be sure to check out all the fine companies Matthew mentioned in the interview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apple:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\/\">www.apple.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Freedom Scientific:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.freedomscientific.com\/\">www.freedomscientific.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NVDA Access:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nvaccess.org\/\">www.nvaccess.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Native Instruments:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nativeinstruments.com\/\">www.nativeinstruments.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hammond Organ Company:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hammondorganco.\/\">www.hammondorganco.<\/a>com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>USA Yamaha:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usa.yamaha.com\/\">www.usa.yamaha.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sweetwater:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/\">www.sweetwater.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>American Foundation for the Blind:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.afb.org\/\">www.afb.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Contact Your State Services<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by&nbsp;<a>email<\/a>&nbsp;or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Contact:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can follow us on Twitter&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/blindabilities\">@BlindAbilities<\/a><br>On the web at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/\">www.BlindAbilities.com<\/a><br>Send us an&nbsp;<a>email<\/a><br>Get the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/blind-abilities\/id1085849859?l=es&amp;mt=8\">Free Blind Abilities App&nbsp;on the App Store<\/a>and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.blindabilities.android.blind&amp;hl=en_US\">Google Play Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093 we would love to hear from you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/607027582712671\/\">Blind Abilities Community<\/a>on Facebook, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlindAbilities\/\">Blind Abilities Page<\/a>, and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/jobinsightsgroup\">Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired<\/a>&nbsp;group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_2018\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6888-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p>https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/secure\/blindabilities\/MatthewWhitakerConnections.mp3 Full Transcript Show Summary: Matthew Whitaker started playing piano at age 3 and has been studying and practicing music ever since. He plays all types of music and Jazz is the place where he likes to reside as he has the freedom to improvise. Matthew has just released his 3rd&nbsp;album, Connections, and talks about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,529,514],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bapresents","category-musician-spotlight","category-transcribed"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6rcRg-1N6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7274,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7274","url_meta":{"origin":6888,"position":0},"title":"\ufffcBraille is Thriving and Learners are On-Line with the Braillists Foundation. Meet Braillists and Advocate, Mathew Horspool.","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"April 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Podcast Summary: Matthew Horspool from the Braillists Foundation joins Callie Gray and Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share Callie\u2019s experience from the Beginners Course for Braille and Matthew gives us an overview about the opportunities available from the Braillists Foundation. From how Braille is taught, to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7686,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7686","url_meta":{"origin":6888,"position":1},"title":"Meet Matt Carson &#8211; Musician, Singer\/Songwriter and Producer Who Happens to be a TBVI (Teacher of the blind and Visually Impaired)","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"November 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Podcast Summary: Jeff and Pete welcome mat Carson into the Blind Abilities studio today. Matt is a Teacher of the Visually Impaired, a musician, a singer songwriter who is proud to write and perform sad songs that fit neatly into the country music genre. Matt has written, performed, recorded and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7658,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7658","url_meta":{"origin":6888,"position":2},"title":"A fearless musical vision playing without abandon and one of the most awarded\u00a0\u00a0Fiddle Players ever &#8211; Meet Michael Cleveland","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"October 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Podcast Summary: Our guest on Blind Abilities today is Michael Cleveland. Michael is a fiddler who specializes in bluegrass music, although his repertoire spans a variety of genres and multiple styles of music. he wows other Bluegrass musicians including the best in the business, in fact, Michael may just be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"Michael Cleveland smiling and playing his fiddle.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/MichaelCleveland-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/MichaelCleveland-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/MichaelCleveland-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/MichaelCleveland-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/MichaelCleveland-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/MichaelCleveland-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5693,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5693","url_meta":{"origin":6888,"position":3},"title":"Boy, Can He Play Guitar! :A Chat with Joey Stuckey, a Musician, A Producer and A Bit of a Bionic Man!","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"February 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: Jeff Thompson talks with a fascinating guest in this, yet another feature interview on Blind Abilities. Joey Stuckey is many things, not the least of which is a talented musician, a sound engineer and owner of\u00a0Shadow Sound Studio\u00a0in Macon, Georgia. He is also an insightful, thoughtful and articulate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3298,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=3298","url_meta":{"origin":6888,"position":4},"title":"Brian Snowman Powers: Sound Engineer, Teacher and Musician, It\u2019s All About the Sax, Low Vision. #SuccessStory","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"January 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Brian powers grew up with the challenges of bullying and being just a bit different. Brian has Albinism and is legally Blind. From his days in K-12 to his journey into the music industry, Brian shares his challenges, his resolve and his passion for music. Brian has contributed his successful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7608,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7608","url_meta":{"origin":6888,"position":5},"title":"Uptown got it&#8217;s hustlers, The bowery got it&#8217;s bums, Blind Abilities got AJ Croce, he&#8217;s a killer pianist\u00a0\u00a0like no one -Please welcome musician, singer songwriter, AJ Croce\ufffc","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"September 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Podcast Summary: Our guess today on Blind Abilities is AJ Croce. AJ is a singer, songwriter, a killer piano player and guitarist, who has been in the entertainment business for more than 30 years. He has 10 studio albums under his belt, and more than 20 top hits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;BlindAbilities Presents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6888"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7079,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6888\/revisions\/7079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}