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\u2026<\/b>
\nOn 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 \u201cDeaf and Loud Symphonic Experience\u201d is being billed by organizers as a first-of-its-kind event: The Sunday concert will bring three of the world\u2019s best-known deaf performers \u2014 percussionist Evelyn Glennie, rapper Sean Forbes and singer Mandy Harvey \u2014 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\u2019s a multisensory concert designed for both deaf and hearing audience members \u2014 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.
\u201cIt\u2019s a good celebration at a high level,\u201d said Glennie. \u201cWith the DSO, you\u2019re 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.\u201d
The concert will also be streamed live on the DSO’s website and Facebook page, along with Detroit Public Television’s site.
The show\u2019s 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 \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent.“
Along with the DSO, they\u2019ll 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 \u201cLose Yourself\u201d that features a rare onstage partnering of Resto and Jeff Bass \u2014 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\u2019s Deaf Professional Arts Network (D-PAN), co-founded by Forbes. D-PAN made its name in the mid-\u201800s 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 \u2014 DPAN. TV \u2014 that includes a daily news program.
\u201cDeaf 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.
That combination has been the signature style for Forbes, a 36-year-old Detroit rapper who signs as he rhymes. But for Glennie and Harvey \u2014 who have performed mostly for hearing audiences \u2014 Sunday night is a trailblazing sort of endeavor.
About 600 seats have been reserved for members of the deaf community, paid for by the concert\u2019s sponsors.
\u201cYou’re going to see deaf kids from around the state experiencing something that is completely inclusive. They’re going to get the lyrics and understand the intent of the songwriter, all accessible in sign language at the same time,“ said D-PAN cofounder Joel Martin. „And there\u2019s inclusion by being in a space where they\u2019re able to enjoy something together with their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.“
Rehearsals this week at D-PAN\u2019s Ferndale studio gave a glimpse at what\u2019s in store. After several Motown selections \u2014 with the virtuoso Glennie moving from marimba to vibraphone to bells \u2014 it was time for a Forbes solo number.
With the elegant Glennie providing a booming beat on tom-toms, the deaf MC lit into his biting \u201cMood Swings,\u201d rapping and accompanying himself in sign language atop a customized wooden platform that kept him locked into the beat: Equipped with transducers linked to the band\u2019s drum kit and bass guitar, the platform vibrated in time to the music.
As Forbes performed, a video screen behind him flashed an energetic array of visuals and lyrics.
„It\u2019s just another layer we can bring to the party by emphasizing the vibration while also emphasizing the visuals and the words,“ he said. „It’s always been important for me to do that.“
Sunday night’s other ASL performers, including interpreters from Madonna University and Oakland Community College, won’t be doing mere lyrical transcriptions. Sign language, after all, isn’t word-for-word translation. Rather, they’ll be lending their own individual creativity and expression to the performance.
\u201cWith sign language, there are so many different ways you can interpret a song,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cI might sign \u2018I Heard It Through the Grapevine\u2019 one way, and someone else is going to sign it another way. The words (onscreen) are the commonality between everything.\u201d
A Thursday preview dinner for „Deaf and Loud“ sponsors gave Harvey a chance to showcase the voice that won the hearts of „America’s Got Talent“ viewers last year. Harvey, who went completely deaf at 18, delivered a mesmerizing performance of her original composition „Release Me,“ the song that sent her into AGT’s final round.
At the DSO, the „Deaf and Loud“ idea was quickly embraced by president Anne Parsons and her team when they were approached last year by D-PAN.
„It was a lot of work to put together the pieces of this big puzzle,“ said Erik R\u00f6nmark, the DSO’s vice president and general manager. „But it was fun. We like to take on this type of project \u2014 it’s a great way for us to show what we can do as an orchestra.“
R\u00f6nmark said „Deaf and Loud“ fits one of the big priorities in the DSO’s mission statement: „to be a place where everybody can experience their world through music.“
„It\u2019s a great way for orchestras to connect with all of our communities,“ he said. „It’s an untapped area that we hadn\u2019t figured out exactly how to reach. This is a great way to bring them in and let them experience what we experience every week.“
The program was the brainchild of musician and producer Jake Bass, the son of Jeff Bass and a longtime friend and collaborator of Forbes. Early on, he figured they might work with a chamber group. Something on the scale of the DSO was a pipe dream.
Then came the 2015 phone call from Glennie. She\u2019d just read a profile of Forbes in the Washington Post and was eager to work with him.
Glennie is an accomplished musician who happens to be deaf, predominantly playing for hearing audiences while helping \u201cpush the percussion from back to front,\u201d as she puts it. In Forbes, she saw an intriguing twist: an artist who was integrating music and sign language to tailor his performances to the deaf.
Forbes and Bass headed to Glennie’s home in England, working up 45 minutes of material that eventually grew into the two-hour program that will hit Orchestra Hall.
„Everything snowballed organically,“ Bass said.
Bass, who studied music composition at Chicago’s Columbia College, was tasked with charting the intricate scores that will be used by the orchestra’s players. He eventually got input from a valued source: Motown’s Paul Riser, who arranged many of the best-known hits in Detroit history.
For Bass, who will be on keyboard and guitar, the show comes with a special personal touch. He’ll be sharing the stage with dad, Jeff Bass, who co-wrote and produced much of Eminem’s best-known work. The Orchestra Hall set list will include an instrumental called „8 Mile & Woodward,“ featuring musical elements from the „8 Mile“ soundtrack, in a nod to the old Bassment Sounds studio where a young Marshall Mathers started his career.
While Sunday night has been the focus for months, all involved in „Deaf and Loud“ are confident the project can become a touring production, linking up with other orchestras and perhaps even playing festivals such as Coachella.
„Detroit music is all over the world, everywhere I go,“ said Forbes. „I’m in Israel, walking down the street, and I hear \u2018Lose Yourself.\u2019 I\u2019m in Norway, and I hear a Motown song. I\u2019m in England, I hear the White Stripes. So it\u2019s not farfetched to think that this could really turn into something, especially with that Detroit branding on it.“
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
With Evelyn Glennie, Sean Forbes, Mandy Harvey and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
7 p.m. Sunday
Orchestra Hall at Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center
3711 Woodward, Detroit
$50-$150
The concert will also be streamed live at www.dso.org and www.dptv.org<\/p>\n