When he is on stage, his music speaks.
Stuart Carlson, a University of Michigan senior who was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome when he was 3, sometimes takes a moment or two before answering a question. He considers his options carefully; flowing conversation is sometimes beyond grasp.
On March 8, his 22nd birthday, disruptions in communication will be washed away. For on this night, he stages a special fund-raising recital for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Music will fill The Ark in Ann Arbor; mentors and fellow musicians playing both classical and bluegrass will surround him. It is here, on stage, where Stuart Carlson communicates best.
“I play with my heart, I tell stories from my heart, I enjoy every moment that I am on stage,” Carlson said. “I’m looking forward to telling stories on my birthday.”
The Dexter High School graduate has “told his stories” through music in various parts of the globe. He has performed in St. Louis and Washington, D.C., his music has taken him on stage in Italy, he has attended academies in the Czech Republic and England and he has already garnered an array of awards and respect in the music community.
He was one of five musicians selected to perform at the Kennedy Center by the Very Special Artists (VSA) in 2016, and he followed that by winning the 2017 University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance Concerto Competition. Before that, in 2013 at the age of 17, he was chosen to perform at the Kennedy Center as part of Arts Advocacy Day. His audience included senators, many members of Congress and famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
“He complimented my music,” said Carlson. “I was honored.”
An array of local musicians will perform in the March 8 recital at The Ark, many of whom have played a part in forming his music through teaching and mentoring. Musicians include Stuart Carlson, Stephen Shipps, Anthony Elliot, Brad Phillips, Amy I-Lin Cheng, Jacob Warren and Grant Flick. Miss Michigan Heather Kendrick will be the emcee.
There will be solos and ensembles of violins, cellos and bass playing both classical and bluegrass. All proceeds go to Mott Hospital, where Carlson – a surviving twin who was 1 pound, 13 ounces at birth – spent the first 100 days of his life in an incubator. By all accounts, the recital should be a night to remember.
It is hard for Stuart’s parents, Jack and Susan Carlson – who also have another son, Justin, 20 – to imagine how far Stuart has come since his early struggles with autism. There are still day-to-day challenges, such as difficulty connecting with others through conversation, and a severe problem with directions. He uses a GPS to get around U-M’s campus and everywhere else he goes.
“When he was in elementary school, we weren’t sure he would ever know what a Christmas gift was,” Jack Carlson said. “Getting him to focus on anything was next to impossible.”
But, there always was the music.
“Before he could walk, he was pulling himself up to the piano and he would stay there for hours,” Susan Carlson said. “But his focus was such an issue that we weren’t sure how everything would work out.”
That focus has honed itself in moments over the years, as Stuart “seems to make jumps, where things just click for him,” according to Jack. “Those are the moments that have revealed a lot.”
Some of those moments came when Stuart went to Oz’s Music, a local music store, when he was 3 for open mic night. He loved the stage so much that he would cry when his time to perform was over. He would go home and play the piano for 3-4 hours at a time,
“Music is my first language,” says Stuart Carlson, and then with a little smile: “I have perfect pitch. I can tell you in what key your toilet flushes.”
Music may be his first and constant passion, but there are others – some brought on or accentuated by his autism. There is his concentration on doors, and why people would go “out” through an “in” door. “I just have to take a deep breath,” he says. He loves radio jingles, watches, voice recorders and ham radios.
Some might wonder if autism is a confinement, a condition that might leave its sufferers without thanks. That is not the case with Stuart Carlson.
Carlson is grateful that he heard classical music in his incubator. He says that even today he can vaguely remember notes from Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik being played to him as a newborn. He is also grateful that he heard a 5th grade orchestra in Dexter when he was 9. It was then that he fell in love with the violin.
“Once I picked it up, it was what I wanted,” he said.
He is also thankful for the opportunity to play with his friends and mentors on March 8 at The Ark. It is his birthday, and his music will speak.
MUSIC FOR MOTT
What: A fund-raising recital, featuring both classical and bluegrass music, for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Where: The Ark, 316 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor.
When: Thursday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.)
Who: Musicians include Stuart Carlson, Stephen Shipps, Anthony Elliot, Brad Phillips, Amy I-Lin Cheng, Jacob Warren and Grant Flick. Miss Michigan Heather Kendrick will be the emcee.
Tickets: $75/$40 reserved seating, and $20 general admission; on sale at The Ark (http://theark.org) and Michigan Union Ticket Office (https://muto.umich.edu/events) websites.
More information: Contact Jack Carlson at HammerDTP@gmail.com.
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