Paul Whittaker OBE: Interpreting classical music using BSL

Paul Whittaker OBE is a public speaker, musician, performer and workshop leader who is profoundly deaf. He has spent 30 years entertaining and inspiring others, and also educating people across the UK, and beyond about music and deafness.

He first collaborated with HCS in 2023 when he interpreted our performance of Messiah using BSL.

Paul returns to Huddersfield Town Hall to join us at our sold-out performance of Messiah on Saturday 20^th December. Keep reading to find out more about Paul, his life and his work, and to get a flavour of what you can expect from a BSL interpretation of a major choral work.

I was born Deaf but grew up in a musical household, so when I was 5 I started playing the piano. A couple of years later I joined the choir at Holy Trinity Church, which was a wonderful experience, and through that I became interested in playing the organ. In 1983, I went to Wadham College, Oxford, to read music and followed that with a post-graduate performance diploma at the RNCM.

When I was young, sign language was actually banned within educational settings; I didn’t start using it (informally) until I was 11. I started using it musically at church in Oxford, but it didn’t really take off until 1991 – I signed a performance of Peter and the Wolf with the Orchestra of Opera North, narrated by Richard Stilgoe. Through Richard I became involved in signing musical shows in London and on tour. Over the years, classical performances have become my main focus.

Interpreting song is hugely different to interpreting speech. With song, I endeavour to convey the meaning of the music as well as the meaning of the text, so need to be aware of rhythm, pitch, speed, volume and also the emotional impact of the piece. I do find music easier to interpret due to my deafness: I can follow a score but I can’t always follow speech!

Some older texts, such as that of Messiah, can be a challenge to interpret due to the complexity of the language – working out the meaning isn’t always easy! Having said that, Messiah is pretty straight forward because there is such a clear narrative to convey. That’s not to say it’s always easy making sense of the text though, especially when there’s a lot of repetition. “His yoke is easy” is the bit I’m always happy to get over and done with!

I love signing Messiah, partly because I know it so well, and every performance is different. There’s always something new to find and new ways to translate it into BSL. Interpreting a piece when you are less fond of it presents more challenges (although of course you remain professional and do your best!). Sometimes it can be that the music isn’t particularly exciting or well-written; at others, it can be the density of the text that creates barriers.

Recently I was signing a concert that included odes in memory of Purcell. The texts were very florid, and full of allegory and pastoral and classical imagery. I needed to do a great deal of research to ensure that I understood it all well enough to interpret it!

Besides classic music, I love musical theatre. I was the first person to sign shows such as Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Mary Poppins, Phantom of the Opera and many others. Doing the annual RPO/John Rutter Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall was great fun. The RLPO and RSNO ask me to do quite a range of repertoire, including purely instrumental repertoire. Dunedin Consort are wonderful to work with and I did the St Matthew Passion with them last year.

I’ll always accept an invitation to sign anything by James MacMillan as I adore his music. I work every year at the Cumnock Tryst, the music festival he founded in Ayrshire. If I have to pick career highlights then I’ll settle for two. The first was signing the “Sondheim at 80” Prom in 2010, with Sondheim himself there and Dame Judi Dench leading a phenomenal cast. The other is James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio with the RSNO, conducted by the composer and with Roderick Williams as one of the soloists – two of my favourite musicians!

To me, the most important reason for my work is access. It’s not just about providing sign language for deaf people though; so many hearing people appreciate what I bring to a performance. A good example is the Berg Violin Concerto, which I did earlier this year. It is a complex piece and I felt I was guiding the whole audience through.

I’ll finish by saying that it is really lovely, as a local lad, to be part of this HCS tradition, and I look forward to the performance on Saturday 20^th December!

Photo credit: Dominic Denison