‘With Love, No Limits’: Inclusive Concert in SU Brings Musical Utopia

Beautiful music played by performers with disabilities or rare diseases at Soochow University’s Wang Xing Plaza at its Waishuangsi campus on April 19^th had touched and inspired a large crowd.

The inclusive concert titled “With Love, No Limits” featured Dr. Louann Carnahan, Cheng-Yun Wu from Tsinghua University, and Mi Ka Wen, a band formed by three students from SU’s Resource Classroom.

SU President Wei-Ta Pan and many distinguished guests, including Chairman of SU Alumni Association Hui-Gui Chen, Vice President of Friends of Soochow Robert Oehler, Commissioner of Taipei City Department of Social Welfare Shu-Wen Yao, all demonstrated their support through their presence.

One of the performers, Dr. Louann Carnahan, a neurologist specializing in epilepsy treatment at Tucson, Arizona, is also the daughter of Chiung-Chuan Lee, a Soochow alumna (Class of 1975, Dept. of English Language and Literature).

She was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease at the age of 15, and has been confined to a wheelchair due to constant epilepsy. Despite her physical setbacks, Dr. Carnahan’s passion for playing the piano never waned. Together with her husband, she designed a device of suspension bars to support her arms, allowing her to rekindle her love for playing the piano.

At the concert, she performed several pieces by Chopin, and the well-known Für Elise, creating a resonance with the audience.

The band Mi Ka Wen is composed of three Soochow students: Mei-Xuan Jiang, who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Wen-Qian Luo, who has been visually impaired since birth, and their friend Jia-Yi Li. They have formed a strong bond through their shared love for music.

Cheng-Yun Wu, a student from Tsinghua University, is a modern pop music composer and also a visually impaired patient with a rare disease called Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Despite the visual challenges, his passion for music and composition remains undeterred. He presented three self-composed piano pieces at the concert: Hero, Journey of the Heart, and Thank You for Being Born.

President Pan expressed his gratitude to all the friends from various sectors who have dedicated themselves to making this concert possible. He believed this special performance facilitated the understanding about rare diseases, and inspired people with the spirit of the performers: never give up in the face of physical or mental struggle. And where there is love, there are no limits.