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Channel 4 - News - Deaf orchestra astounds audiences
The deaf children's orchestra has astounded audiences in Colombia.
The White Hands Group's success is due not only to their inspirational music, but also because every member has a hearing disability.
Based in the city of Medellin, the orchestra started seven years ago as part of an education project, featuring the involvement of over 2,000 deaf children, from the ages of seven to 18.
All of the songs performed by the group were written by the deaf poet Beatriz Rincon, who helped teach the children the music.
Language interpreter and teacher, Eldy Zuluaga, said: "When we started with the orchestra, we started explaining to the kids what each song meant, and not just translating the lyrics it into the sign language but also explaining to feeling that the music invokes in other people, because that meaning is different to what you get just out of the lyrics of a song.
"It is quite powerful for the audience because it is difficult to understand how deaf children can perform music."
Acknowledging the novelty draw of the group, Medellin Orchestra director Ana Lucia Moreno said: "It is somewhat ironic you could say, but as I said before that is what we are showing, that there are many way to do music and that the sound is only one of the parts of making music."
She added: "Many of the children never played an instrument before joining the orchestra, but with consistent training they have become real musical experts."
The deaf children's orchestra has astounded audiences in Colombia.
The White Hands Group's success is due not only to their inspirational music, but also because every member has a hearing disability.
Based in the city of Medellin, the orchestra started seven years ago as part of an education project, featuring the involvement of over 2,000 deaf children, from the ages of seven to 18.
All of the songs performed by the group were written by the deaf poet Beatriz Rincon, who helped teach the children the music.
Language interpreter and teacher, Eldy Zuluaga, said: "When we started with the orchestra, we started explaining to the kids what each song meant, and not just translating the lyrics it into the sign language but also explaining to feeling that the music invokes in other people, because that meaning is different to what you get just out of the lyrics of a song.
"It is quite powerful for the audience because it is difficult to understand how deaf children can perform music."
Acknowledging the novelty draw of the group, Medellin Orchestra director Ana Lucia Moreno said: "It is somewhat ironic you could say, but as I said before that is what we are showing, that there are many way to do music and that the sound is only one of the parts of making music."
She added: "Many of the children never played an instrument before joining the orchestra, but with consistent training they have become real musical experts."