Welcome!
We’re so glad you’re here to learn more about Adaptive Concerts and accessible musical programming. By reading this series of blog posts, and perhaps even planning your own Adaptive Concert, you’re joining a growing movement of artists, producers, and concert presenters who are putting accessibility at the heart of live performance. Together, we’re finding creative and meaningful ways to reach new audiences and make music more inclusive for everyone. We want to help you improve the accessibility at your events, whether you’re running a series of relaxed or Adaptive Concerts or you just want to start making small improvements to the accessibility of your programming. Our goal is to make the process of designing and presenting accessible concerts as smooth, inspiring, and enjoyable as possible for you, your audiences, and the artists you collaborate with.
What Are Adaptive Concerts?
Adaptive Concerts are family-friendly musical events designed to meet the diverse accessibility needs of as many people as possible. These concerts take place in a welcoming, judgment-free environment where everyone is encouraged to engage with the performance in their own way. Think of it as a “choose your own adventure” concert experience—audience members have the freedom to decide how they want to enjoy the music. Whether that means moving around, vocalizing, using sensory supports, or simply sitting back and listening, everyone is welcome to participate on their own terms. Adaptive Concerts also often include additional accessibility supports, including ASL (both spoken and musical), sensory support items, accessible web-based resources, supports for Blind and partially sighted attendees, and adaptations to musical programming, audience engagement, and communication. We’ll cover these topics in more detail in future posts.
A Brief History of Accessible Concert Design in Canada
The story of Adaptive Concerts in Canada begins with Xenia Concerts, founded in 2014 by the Cecilia Quartet. The group was inspired by their experience performing at an autism-friendly concert with Azure Concerts in California. That experience sparked a vision: to bring similar concerts to Canada and offer families in the autism community the same access to high-quality live music that other audiences enjoy.
After a year of thoughtful consultation with people with lived experience, caregivers, and healthcare experts, Xenia launched the first Canadian concert series dedicated primarily to the needs and tastes of autistic attendees. The response was overwhelmingly positive—and the demand has only grown since. Today, Xenia Concerts presents 30–35 Adaptive Concerts every year in communities across Canada, and we’ve expanded our approach to accommodate a broader spectrum of needs for Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent attendees. Inspired by this model, several other organizations have started their own Adaptive Concert series, including Chamberfest in Ottawa, Cecilia Concerts in Halifax, and Honens in Calgary. Relaxed Performances (similar to Adaptive Concerts in many ways) and accessibility-centred programs are also proliferating through the efforts of many organizations, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the National Ballet of Canada, and The National Arts Centre Orchestra. Together, these organizations are working towards a national culture of greater inclusion in live music.
From “Sensory-Friendly” to “Adaptive”
You might have heard the term “sensory-friendly concerts.” Xenia used this term from 2014 to 2022, and many organizations still use it today. The sensory-friendly movement began as a way to make performances more accessible for neurodiverse audiences—particularly within the autism community—by addressing diverse sensory needs.
However, as the field evolved, so did the understanding of accessibility. The term “Adaptive Concert” was coined by Dr. Erin Parkes, founder and Executive Director of The Lotus Centre, to reflect a broader vision of inclusion and to convey the importance of adaptability, both in the approach to concert design and at the events themselves. Accessibility, after all, is not limited to sensory experiences, and no concert can truly be “friendly” to everyone’s individual sensory preferences. An “adaptive” concert, however, can meet a variety of sensory, physical, and communication-related needs while providing opportunities for attendees to meet their own needs within the concert space. The language will likely continue to evolve, but the term “Adaptive Concert” encapsulates our current approach well.
The Evolution of Accessible Concert Design
Today’s accessible concert design takes a holistic approach, considering not just sensory needs but also physical, socio-cultural, geographical, age-related, and communication-related factors. Organizations like Xenia Concerts are continually experimenting with new ways to address unmet access needs through community engagement and iterative design.
At the heart of this evolution is one simple principle: choice. Adaptive Concerts are about giving audiences the freedom to decide how they want to participate—to choose for themselves what accessibility means in each moment. That’s why we call them adaptive: they adapt to each person’s needs, from individual to individual, and even from moment to moment during the performance.
Looking Ahead
Xenia Concerts is just one part of a larger movement toward accessibility in the arts. Many organizations—both longstanding and new—are now making inclusion a priority, and accessibility conversations are becoming more central in creative spaces across the country.
We’ve made great progress, but there’s still work to be done. With each new Adaptive Concert, we’re expanding our circle of inclusion and discovering new ways to make music a truly universal experience.
Stay tuned for the next post in this series, where we’ll start to explore how to design your own Adaptive Concert and make your events more inclusive!