Person Open DS/UK/17477 Whittaker; Paul (1964-); OBE; English organist, pianist Whittaker Paul 1964- English organist, pianist Male

Sensory disability Paul was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1964 with a hearing loss and has been profoundly deaf since the age of eight. In 1983 Paul was accepted at Wadham College, Oxford, to read for a music degree, followed by a post-graduate performance course at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, in 1986. In 1988 Paul founded the charity ‘Music and the Deaf’ to help deaf people access music and performing arts. In 1992 Paul was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling fellowship to research music among deaf communities in the USA. The same year he began giving signed theatre performances, beginning with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium. Since then Paul has worked on over 60 productions both in the West End and on tour, including Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Chess and West Side Story. In 2010 he provided the first ever signed Prom, “Sondheim at 80” which was also broadcast on BBC Two, and followed that with a performance of “Porgy and Bess” with Opera Lyon at the Edinburgh International Festival. For the past five years he has signed for Rambert Dance Company, and is proud of the relationship that has developed with The Sixteen. In 2005 he was invited by HM The Queen to attend a reception to celebrate British Music at Buckingham Palace, and the same year received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Huddersfield, in recognition of his music education work with deaf people. Paul was awarded an OBE for services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2007. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHeharper 6/10/2014 RAHAKirkbride 4/21/2023 60fcfbe9-8f05-41e9-8c0f-72ca6cba1fc4