Rebecca A Withey: The launch of the BSL community chorus for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games!

Yesterday saw the launch of “Your Love Lifts Me Up” – a BSL Community Chorus which is part of the creativity festival that surrounds the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. I feel honoured to be part of this community chorus that intends to ‘amplify the voices of the unheard.’

Working closely with another deaf artist, Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford, together we decided upon the BSL translation for the song. Mary-Jayne was then asked to deliver BSL tutorials for the song lyrics for others to learn and I was given the opportunity to devise and perform a verse of my own in BSL.

Whilst I have been songwriting for years, it was the first time I have been asked to write for another mainstream song production and I feel very humbled to have the chance to perform this live in BSL. It’s not very often deaf songwriters get asked to write for mainstream music project, so this felt huge for me!

The music video to Your Love Lifts Me Up sees the involvement of over 150 performers from across the world, coming together as musicians, singers and signers to celebrate the feeling of togetherness that music often creates.

Longwill school for the deaf in Birmingham have been involved with the project from the very start and you can see their students perform joyfully in the music video. Their headteacher Mrs Slade also features prominently in the BSL tutorial videos. A brilliant children’s choir in Uganda are also involved, singing and signing along as well as pupils from Shireland Allegiate Academy who were fantastic.

As a sign song performer, I see many song productions and BSL translations but very rarely do I see BSL and music fuse together so well and on such a large scale. What’s more, the community chorus isn’t just about producing and performing a song – it also encourages viewers to learn and use BSL.

Whilst I was shooting part of the music video in Birmingham, I got the chance to teach a group of Commonwealth Games volunteers the signs for the songs chorus – and the group happily feature in the music video signing and smiling along!

You can go to the projects website www.yourloveliftsmeup.com and learn the song lyrics in BSL with Mary -Jayne as well as enjoying a simple video about signing greetings in BSL. You can also find out from me how I devised the BSL verse as well as background information on the inspiration behind the song.

Andrew Kisumba, songwriter and executive producer explains more about his vision behind it all;

There are over 5,000 Deaf children in the West Midlands and 32 million worldwide. For the Birmingham 2022 Festival, local artist collective Friends Of Cedar Church have ambitiously orchestrated and provided an uplifting community song to celebrate British Sign Language (BSL) as a major language in Birmingham, a City of Languages, and across the world. The aim is to empower Deaf children by teaching signing through singing across whole communities.

The song includes a brand new verse written and signed originally in BSL. This is then interpreted into a English subtitles and freely expressed vocally over the combination of a classically orchestral soundscape and percussive ethnic rhythms to musically reflect the range of traditions and vibrant flavours of this richly diverse region.

Along with three versions of the finished recording, there is a joyous official song video featuring all of the artists and groups involved in the project to accompany the audio release. This will coincide with the start of the Cultural Festival in the lead up to the games and beyond with some live performances of “Your Love Lifts Me Up” in various locations around the city.”

We will be performing the song live several times throughout the summer at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall as well as at the Singstanding Community Sing. We also have plans to perform as a flash mob in Birmingham city centre! How great will it be to get passers by learning the signs for the song as they’re bound to end up singing along – it’s so catchy!

You can view the video here, I am certain it will make you smile.

Enjoy!

Rebecca x

Outside Millennium Point where we shot part of the music video;
Andrew Kisumba, Olivia Whitter (BSL interpreter) me and Sarah Kisumba.