FEATURING “THE SPEAKERS” & MORE
People with learning differences will play an important part at the 2026 Pleasantville Music Festival on Saturday, July 11 from performing music on the stage to volunteering at the event, producing our merch and providing delicious beverages.
Kicking off the festival on the Main Stage at 1pm will be The Speakers, a local group featuring super-talented neurodivergent adult musicians. Assembled and trained by Lagond Music School in Elmsford, the six musicians, each have disabilities that range from Autism to Cerebral Palsy but doesn’t stop them from aspiring to pursue professional musical careers.
The band is fronted by captivating lead singer Kerryn Prieto from Elmsford and also features Pleasantville’s own Kevin O’Brien on sax, Hayden Martin of West Harrison on keys and vocals, Geoff Coggeshall of White Plains on sax, Max Rubin of Pound Ridge on drums and percussion and Jordan Levy of Chappaqua also on drums and percussion. Also performing with them will be bass player Paul Maddison, the band leader and instructor at Lagond Music and sax player Charlie Lagond, the Director at Lagond, who serves as the group’s Music Director.
The name The Speakers has come to embody a deep meaning for the project. Kerryn explains: “The Speakers are speaking up for musicians with disabilities who are often overshadowed, shunned, left in the back due to their condition, not knowing the many talents we musicians with disabilities have to share with the world. Our job is to bring us to the front of the line.”
Every year, several Festival Volunteers with learning differences help out the staff and the crowd in various ways: handing out programs at the entrance, assisting with our Zero Waste efforts, and setting up seating. “At the Festival, we are proud to offer a limited number of Volunteer roles that are well-suited for capable community members with disabilities,” said Festival Director Bruce Figler. “These positions are very popular and this year, as always, filled up quickly.”
New this year, the Festival will feature a Sensory Tent, a welcoming and inclusive space designed to provide a calm, sensory-friendly environment for children with autism, sensory sensitivities and other special needs. The tent will offer a quiet place where children and families of attendees can take a break, relax and recharge before rejoining festival activities. The Sensory Tent is provided by The Soft Place to Land.
Another example of the Festival’s inclusivity is the contracting of Pleasantville’s Spectrum Design to create t-shirts for Festival attendees on-site at the event. Spectrum is a company that manufacturers a wide variety of customized promotional items with approximately 70% of their team on the Autism spectrum. https://www.spectrumdesigns.org
Even the coffee shop providing caffeinated drinks to the Festival crowd – Sleepy Coffee, Too out of Sleepy Hollow – is supported by staff members with learning disabilities. Started by Kim Callahan, a retired Special Ed teacher in Sleepy Hollow Schools, Sleepy Coffee Too employs a lot of her former students with learning differences. Their non-profit mission is to provide on the job training and employment for people with disabilities in an inclusive, self-sustaining cafe workplace.
A true community-wide affair, in recent years, the Festival has also utilized the services of the Nicholas Center in Pleasantville, a facility that offers vocational training for autistic adults.
Now celebrating its 20th year, the Pleasantville Music Festival is known as New York’s Backyard Jam. For information about the Festival, including ticketing details, descriptions of the performers, how to purchase a Tent City site, volunteer opportunities, other ways to support the Festival, and more, visit www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com or follow the Festival on Facebook and Instagram @pvillemusicfest.
