English 
French As part of the podcast series, “ArtsAbly in Conversation,” Diane Kolin interviewed Mercedes Yvonne Lysaker is a cellist, a teacher and a scholar based in New York City.
This post presents the resources that Mercedes Lysaker mentioned during the conversation.
Mercedes Yvonne Lysaker
A classically trained musician, she holds degrees in cello performance and music education and worked for many years as an orchestral musician before becoming an independent artist outside classical music. As Contraforma, she performs classical fusion, metal, rock, and alternative music, composing and recording from her home studio. Her interests lie in performing classical and pre-existing works in a new way, bringing out different elements that may be overlooked or ignored in conventional presentations. Her original pieces are often highly improvisatory, with elements of Jewish mystical music combined with ethereal and amplified sound-scapes. She also runs PokéCello Music, a YouTube channel devoted to remixing music from the Pokemon video game franchise for cello. Mercedes works as a teaching artist and strings specialist, teaching strings and conducting research in music education focusing on social justice and equity in string education and designing community-focused, culturally relevant string curricula. She holds leadership positions in national trade organizations advocating for disability rights in string education.
Visit Mercedes Lysaker’s website
Area Zero Underdepths Cello & Orchestra Cinematic Arrangement
This video introduces the interview. Mercedes recorded at as part of her PokéCello project. You can watch the full version of the video below.
If you cannot play the video, the link below will open it on YouTube.
Watch Area Zero Underdepths on YouTube
Apocalyptica
In the lore of heavy metal only a handful of artists can claim to have changed history, and even fewer can say they’ve done so twice. Enter Apocalyptica and one of metal’s greatest, most unlikely success stories. Formed in 1993 at the world-renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, Apocalyptica began life as a loving, lo-fi nod to Metallica from four classically-trained musicians with no greater ambition than to explore their favourite band’s music with their chosen instrument. As founding band leader Eicca Toppinnen explains, the project would take on a life of its own when they finally released Plays Metallica By Four Cellos in 1996. More than a debut, it was a monster in waiting.
RAMPD
RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) is a professional platform equipping the music and live entertainment industry with disability inclusive tools, programming and strategy. RAMPD also connects the industry to a global directory of peer-vetted music/sound creators and industry professionals with disabilities, neurodivergence and other chronic or mental health conditions, to find source and hire—bringing competitive opportunities, visibility and community to our Professional Members while offering disability inclusion to Industry/Venue partners. RAMPD’s Mission is to amplify Disability Culture, promote equitable inclusion, and advocate for inclusive and accessible spaces in the music and live entertainment industries. Founded in May of 2021 (and established January 2022) by award-winning recording artist and cultural activist Lachi, RAMPD came about after a public talk between the Recording Academy and several disabled artists revealed the serious lack of visibility, access, and representation for music professionals with disabilities.
Visit Mercedes Lysaker’s RAMPD profile
Lachi
Lachi is a singer-songwriter, touring performer, producer, actress, author, disability advocate and cultural activist based in New York City. Lachi’s music is often described as Pop or Dance music. She is legally blind, due to Coloboma. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Lachi established herself as a go-to disability advocate in the music industry, speaking with and performing at places like the White House, the United Nations, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the BBC, among other notable appearances. Lachi is the founder of RAMPD. Starting in 2022, RAMPD began partnering with the Recording Academy to help make the Grammy Awards more accessible: working to add a visibly ramped dais, Sign language interpreters, live captioning, and Audio description, American Sign Language and ramps on the red carpet. In February 2024, Lachi was named a 2024 Woman of the Year by USA Today.
Diseducation – Behind the Scenes with Lachi and Mercedes Lysaker
Lachi and Mad Different cellist Mercedes Lysaker chat about “Diseducation” on set at Amazon Music studios. They talk about being disabled musicians, prioritizing access on the Mad Different set, and how “Diseducation” combats ableism with joy.
If you cannot play the video, the link below will open it on YouTube.