On a unique musical night that will have something for everyone, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a pioneering deaf organization are out to give you…
On a unique musical night that will have something for everyone, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a pioneering deaf organization are out to give you something you can feel. Or see. Or hear.
The inaugural “Deaf and Loud Symphonic Experience” is being billed by organizers as a first-of-its-kind event: The Sunday concert will bring three of the world’s best-known deaf performers — percussionist Evelyn Glennie, rapper Sean Forbes and singer Mandy Harvey — to the Orchestra Hall stage. There, they’ll be joined by the DSO, a band and guest vocalists for a concert spotlighting Detroit music, from Motown to Eminem.
There’s far more to it than that. The evening will also be a visual extravaganza, teeming with onscreen lyrics, video sequences, a drum kit that illuminates to the beat, and two dozen sign-language interpreters expressing lyrics with their hands.
In other words, it’s a multisensory concert designed for both deaf and hearing audience members — an opportunity, organizers say, to show real accessibility and inclusiveness in a musical context.
Sunday night is likely just the start: Producers are aiming to take “Deaf and Loud” to orchestras across North America.
“It’s a good celebration at a high level,” said Glennie. “With the DSO, you’re talking about a world-class orchestra. We want them to feel different when they leave the stage, (to know) there are new ways to perceive sound.”
The concert will also be streamed live on the DSO’s website and Facebook page, along with Detroit Public Television’s site.
The show’s headliners make up a cross-generational trio of deaf talent: Glennie, 53, is a much-decorated Scottish percussionist who has played with orchestras around the world, including the DSO. Forbes, 36, is a rapper who grew up in a family steeped in Detroit music. Harvey, 30, is a Colorado singer whose dazzling voice and original songs propelled her into the 2017 finals of “America’s Got Talent.”
Along with the DSO, they’ll be onstage with a band of Detroit A-listers, including bassist Kern Brantley, keyboardist Luis Resto and guitarist Dennis Coffey. Highlights will include a climactic performance of “Lose Yourself” that features a rare onstage partnering of Resto and Jeff Bass — the two musicians who wrote the Oscar-winning song with Eminem.
All will be delivered with an extra emphasis on low frequencies (“some boom to the bounce,” as one show producer put it) to accentuate the vibrations crucial to the deaf music experience.
The project is spearheaded by Ferndale’s Deaf Professional Arts Network (D-PAN), co-founded by Forbes. D-PAN made its name in the mid-‘00s with polished videos interpreting pop and rock hits in sign language, and has grown into an all-purpose media outlet for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, with a staff of 25 and a web station — DPAN. TV — that includes a daily news program.
“Deaf and Loud” will bring the D-PAN approach to a concert setting, as American Sign Language (ASL) interpretations lend their own visual poetry to the musical performance.
