The Mahler Chamber Orchestra takes its Feel the Music project to Barcelona this spring, where MCO musicians are sharing the world of music with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the magnificent surroundings of Palau de la Músia Catalana.
Paul Whittaker – inspirational speaker, musician, performer and workshop leader – has played a pivotal role in Feel the Music since its very beginnings. As a deaf musician, Paul has made it his mission to bring music to the lives of deaf children for over 30 years. Paul leads and accompanies MCO musicians taking part in the first part of each Feel the Music project: a school workshop introducing students to a small group of musicians and their instruments. Many of these students have their first – and often transformative – encounter with music in the workshop. This workshop gives them a preview of what they will experience in the second part of the project, when they join the rest of the orchestra onstage in rehearsal.
The MCO spoke with Paul shortly before his trip to Barcelona about the beginnings of Feel the Music, as well as the impact and future of this project. 
Paul Whittaker with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, with whom the MCO developed Feel the Music
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra celebrates its 21st birthday this year. It’s been 6 years since we started working on Feel the Music together, so you’ve really become one of our rare "constants": a partner with whom we work closely, for a specific project, several times each year. How has the MCO evolved since your first collaboration with us? In which direction do you see it going in the upcoming years?
It doesn’t feel like 6 years actually, yet during that time we’ve done about 16 Feel the Music projects and each one has been very different – different musicians, different instruments, different languages and different deaf children. Music, however, is a universal language and wherever we’ve gone we’ve seen that emotional and physical impact that music can have on everyone involved.
Obviously, we’ve learned a lot as the project has developed, and grown in confidence. The fact that the MCO wanted the project to continue after the initial Beethoven Journey was so encouraging; it shows how much impact it has on the organisation as a whole, and their commitment to music and deafness. I hope it continues!
Feel the Music students sharing the stage with the MCO in Berlin (2016)
In MCO Learning activities, a huge emphasis is placed on the continuous process of learning together. How and what do participants – students and MCO musicians, but also you – learn from each other in each Feel the Music session?
We have all learned so much from each other during Feel the Music. The musicians themselves have gained so much confidence in working with deaf children, which takes pressure off me. When we started the project I really did feel that it was up to me to make things happen – from answering questions about why music is vital for deaf people and how they hear it and feel it, to finding ways of supporting and encouraging the MCO players and engaging with the young deaf people we meet. Now the players have their own ideas and are keen to try them out and any fears or worries they may have had have vanished.
It’s important that we review the session at the end of the day and that people are honest about what they felt went well and what maybe didn’t work so well. That enables us all to build up knowledge and experience that we can bring to future projects.
I have learned so much from the MCO musicians over 6 years and we have all learned from – and been challenged by – the deaf children we’ve met and worked with. I’ve been thrilled and amazed by some of the young people we have met and they’ve certainly opened my eyes to what deaf people can achieve.
Paul Whittaker, MCO violinist Katarzyna Wozniakowska and Feel the Music students during the school workshop in Tenerife (2017)
You found your calling in bridging the worlds of music and deafness. What does it take in order to bring these (what seem to be vastly) different worlds together? What role does the MCO play in its work with deaf and hard-of-hearing children around the world?
Ever since I was 12 I’ve wanted to find ways of helping deaf people enjoy music (I’m now 53) and never dreamed I would have the chance to work with an orchestra like the MCO. Of all the projects I have done, Feel the Music has been the most rewarding, partly because an orchestra is a phenomenal resource to work with, partly because it’s a shared effort (most projects I do are delivered by me alone), and partly because we have the opportunity to bring music to many young deaf people who have never experienced it before.
To bridge the worlds of music and deafness needs commitment, enthusiasm, confidence, the ability to make a fool of yourself and not worry what others may think, and a lot of patience. Being deaf myself is probably the most important thing though: deaf children know that I’m the same as them, so that enables an attitude of, "If you can do it, I can too."
The MCO has played a huge role in promoting music and deafness across the world through Feel the Music. The publicity the project generates helps change public perception and encourages society in general, and arts organisations and venues in particular, to think about how they engage with deaf people. I can’t think of any other music organisation that promotes and delivers so much music work with deaf children. Well done MCO! 
A Feel the Music student conducting the MCO on stage in Tenerife (2017)
What is your most memorable Feel the Music encounter?
That has to be the Beethovenfest in Bonn. Being able to bring together
over 50 young deaf people whom we’d previously worked with, seeing them
become friends, communicate with each other (despite the language
differences), and watching them rehearse and perform with the MCO was
just phenomenal. It was so moving and a definite highlight of my life.
Participants of the Feel the Music Festival sharing the stage with the MCO in Bonn (2014)
Describe the spirit of MCO musicians in 5 words.
Committed, passionate, fun, friendly, feisty!
Feel the Music students experiencing the production of sound first-hand from MCO oboist Emma Schied in Brescia (2012)
Photos: Holger Talinski / Martin Piechotta / ACFI Press
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