Twenty-year-old Jacob Rock is a non-verbal young man with autism who quietly composed an entire six-movement symphony in his head. After struggling to communicate for much of his life, he learned how to share his ideas via an iPad app with musician Rob Laufer. The two created the symphony “Unforgettable Sunrise,” which was premiered last year by a 55-piece orchestra from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Correspondent Lee Cowan talked with Rock and Laufer, and with Jacob’s father, Paul, about a remarkable musical odyssey.
A young autistic man’s symphonic odyssey
