Gaelynn Lea at the Cambridge Public Library

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Gaelynn Lea—folk musician, Broadway composer, and disability advocate—for a discussion of her new memoir, It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect. She will be joined in conversation by Adrian Anantawan—violinist, current Chair of Music at Milton Academy, the Artistic Director of Shelter Music Boston, and Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music—and Colleen Flanagan—longtime activist for disability rights, working at the City of Boston Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities as the Outreach and Engagement Specialist.

RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a copy of It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect and pick it up at the event. Following the presentation will be a book signing.

Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event.

Folk musician, Broadway composer, and disability advocate Gaelynn Lea's warm, funny, poignant memoir is a love letter to every kind of body, to music, and to making it work––inviting us to embrace all of life's experiences with heart and determination.
Gaelynn Lea was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Her parents were loving, cash-strapped theater kids, and she grew up racing about in her first electric wheelchair, having adventures with her siblings, and handing out playbills at her parents' dinner theater shows. Transfixed by an orchestra performance in 5th grade, Gaelynn was determined to play the cello. When her shortened limbs made playing the instrument challenging, she employed a familiar tactic: adapting. What if she held a violin upright in her wheelchair, like the world's tiniest cello? That what if was the key that unlocked her lifelong music career.
After winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert in 2016, Lea became a full-time touring musician—and that's when she began to truly struggle with the inaccessibility of the music world. Out of necessity, she became a dedicated advocate and activist, pushing back against the prevailing stereotypes, assumptions, and barriers with her own gently defiant style. Lea's warm, funny, deeply-felt memoir addresses love and faith, sexuality and mortality, the frustration and the joy of difference. She shows how disability inspires and enables unique and indispensable contributions to the world, and reminds readers to think creatively, fight for what they love, and savor the journey.

Gaelynn Lea is a composer, musician, and disability rights advocate. Since winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016, she has captivated audiences around the world with her haunting original songs and traditional fiddle tunes. Gaelynn has collaborated with Michael Stipe, The Decemberists, and Wilco. In 2022, Gaelynn composed an original score for Macbeth on Broadway, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga. She later released an album featuring these compositions, titled Music From Macbeth. Music aside, Gaelynn Lea is a sought-after public speaker about disability culture, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts. She was awarded a Disability Futures Fellowship in 2024.

Adrian Anantawan holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a violinist, he has studied with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, and Anne-Sophie Mutter; his academic work in education was supervised by Howard Gardner. Memorable moments include performances at the White House, the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens and Vancouver Olympic Games and the United Nations. Adrian helped to create the Virtual Chamber Music Initiative at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Centre. The cross-collaborative project brings researchers, musicians, doctors and educators together to develop adaptive musical instruments capable of being played by a young person with disabilities within a chamber music setting. He is the current Chair of Music at Milton Academy, the Artistic Director of Shelter Music Boston and is on faculty at Berklee College of Music. Shelter Music Boston delivers over 80 chamber music concerts a year to homeless shelters and substance use recovery programs in the Greater Boston Area. At Berklee, he is the founder of the Music Inclusion Ensemble, whose mission it is to create a more explicit culture around classical music and disability and to perform a diverse repertoire of music by disabled composers. The group hopes to encourage other disabled musicians to collaborate with each other and to celebrate their disabilities as a form of diversity, rather than hiding it within their artistic practice. Throughout the year, Adrian continues to perform, speak and teach around the world as an advocate for disability and the arts.

Colleen Flanagan is a longtime activist for disability rights and justice. As a disabled woman, she brings important lived experience to her current position at the City of Boston Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities as the Outreach & Engagement Specialist, leading community engagement initiatives to make sure Boston’s disability community can access all that the City of Boston has to offer. Colleen’s work to advance disability rights and justice includes grassroots organizing, public policy engagement, and many other efforts to ensure that disability voices are centered in civic life.

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.

The Cambridge Public Library serves as a doorway to opportunity, self-development, and recreation for all its residents, and as a forum where they may share ideas, cultures, and resources among themselves and with people around the globe.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Harvard Book Store