Event | Manchester’s Hand Made Signing Choir performance & song workshop

Experience the power of sign language, and how it is used to express the emotions of music and interpretation of song meaning, led by deaf musician Paul Whittaker OBE.

Suitable for 11+ (under 18s must have an accompanying adult).

• British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation provided
• If you require Audio Description please contact access@phm.org.uk or 0161 838 9190

Biographies:

Hand Made Signing Choir formed in 2018; they are a mixture of deaf and hearing people who all share the same passion for British Sign Language (BSL) and music to make beautiful songs accessible to deaf people.  The choir interpret and perform a wide variety of music and songs including, pop, rock, ballads, and classical.  They endeavour to accommodate all tastes but most importantly to be inclusive to deaf people.  The choir meets twice a month at Bolton Deaf Society and welcome anyone who wants to experience this powerful language and share its beauty within the deaf community.

Paul Whittaker OBE was born in Huddersfield in 1964 and has been deaf all his life.  After getting a music degree from Wadham College, Oxford and a postgraduate diploma from the Royal Northern Collage of Music he founded Music and the Deaf, a charity he ran for 27 years before leaving to pursue a freelance career.  Paul has signed many shows and concerts across the UK and performed with The King’s Singers, Voces 8, CBSO, RPO, and at many festivals including the Cumnock Tryst and the BBC Proms.  He continues to promote music and deafness and currently runs seven signing choirs.  He was awarded an OBE in 2007 and holds two honorary degrees.