University News Last updated 20 September
Alumna and mezzo soprano Samantha Lewis has integrated British Sign Language into her vocal performances, so the deaf community can have the same experience as everyone in the audience who can hear and speak.
She has recently recorded ‘Tired’ by Vaughan Williams and ‘The Last Rose of Summer’, a poem by Irish Poet Thomas Moore, with BSL to reach the deaf community, so that they can experience the songs in the same way as everyone else.
In an interview, Samantha explained that singing and signing are like speaking two different languages at once. “BSL can come across abrupt and direct, as some of the meaning that you have with sound is lost. It takes time to understand how to change the movement of the BSL word into the meaning of the music, which creates a water effect of one movement flowing to the other with feeling.”
Initially, Samantha combined sign and song for her partner who is deaf, so that he would understand the song lyrics when he came to see her performances.
She added: “Meeting my partner opened my eyes to the deaf community, and how restricted they are in elements of life that are only made for a hearing world – the live theatre world specifically, amongst many different elements.”
Samantha debuted the combination of song and BSL in the 2023 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, where she reached the semi-final.
While performing at the Eisteddfod, two deaf people and a grandmother to a deaf boy were moved to tears, as they were able to receive the same experience and understanding as those who were hearing and speaking at the concert.
Samantha said: "We as performers strive to find and portray the meaning of the piece; above all we are storytellers, so including sign language into a performance does this. It tells the story across multiple audiences.
“It bothered me that when my partner came to my performances, he appreciated and supported what I did, yet he never knew what I was singing about. I felt like I was denying this audience what they should be able to experience, the same as those who can hear and speak. This is when I started to integrate sign language into my performances.
“With sign and song, I feel the body and the core of the voice become one – it's almost like a dance. It has unlocked many things within my voice that I didn't know needed unlocking, and I feel more spiritually at home with myself, and I am pleased to have helped and emoted people along the way.”