Hello!

Welcome to the web site of Orla O'Sullivan. Please have a look around and feel free to get in touch if you like. Orla's new CD, Sound Senses, was officially launched by Evelyn Grant on the 23rd of July, 2010, at the Cork School of Music.

Check out the interview with Orla on RTE Radio 1's Arena Show on Tuesday 3rd August! Here is the transcript:

Here is the transcript:

Q Can you tell me where and when your interest in music started?

My musical interest all started with my mother. I remember as a young child my mother used to teach me lots of nursery rhymes. She used to play songs while guiding my fingers on to the piano keys. I remember being able to feel the difference sounds through the vibrations. This was the beginning of my experience of sounds. I was able to identify the various levels of pitch and tone. Although I was too young at the time to realise what a huge learning step this was.

Q Was it difficult to pursue the interest, did you encounter many barriers?

It was not difficult to pursue the interest because I really loved playing and spent many long periods every day at my piano. Yes I did encounter barriers. And it was difficult to study due to lack of interpreters and assistance of any kind at that time. Some time ago I did a course in Music Management and Sound at Colaiste Stiofain Naoifa in Cork.. but again because of lack of interpreters, I was not able to study some modules. The college had no policy for helping people with sensory disability. So I had to use my own initiative to get all the musical scores enlarged, section by section. Whenever I go to concerts, social gatherings, or meetings, where there is no interpreter, I miss out, because: 1: I can’t hear, and 2: I have impaired vision. On the other hand, when I went to a show in Belfast called ‘Chicago’ which was signed by deaf musician Paul Whitaker, there was a huge difference. There were many obstacles and barriers which prevented me from participating in all the usual childhood activities, like games in the school yard, in the park, cycling, P.E. etc. In my teenage years my social activities were limited and it is still is a problem today whenever I am with the able bodied community. Unless there is someone to interpret or sign for me I can’t fully participate. Just about the only aspect of my life that has sustained and helped me overcome my deafness and visual impairment is my love of music. Through my music I have found freedom.. freedom to entertain myself , and others.. to feel uplifted and worthy... to experience a sense of achievement. The joy of being able to perform, to entertain.. to be "in" not "left out." Many of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing have expressed their delight at being able to enjoy my playing - as they can feel the tempo/beat from the piano. They find it relaxing and easy to listen to This feedback inspired me to make a CD which benefits people with sight and hearing disabilities, and of course the general public can also enjoy this music.

Q You are not totally deaf, you are profoundly deaf, how does that affect your playing?

I am completely deaf without my hearing aids, but with my aids on I can hear all the keys except for the highest frequencies. I can hear these sounds but I depend more on 'feeling' the sounds. I have worked out all the different notes on the piano and I can feel the difference between the high and low frequencies.

Q Can you describe that ‘feeling the music’ what it feels like when you feel the vibration of the piano keys?

To try to describe that ‘feeling of music’.. to feel the vibrations of the piano keys? I will put it like this. If you were to pass by somebody working with a kango hammer, you would both feel the vibrations and hear the sounds. So you would use both those senses. In my case I think I am using those two senses to the maximum all the time, but with the very high frequencies, the sense of hearing becomes less and the sense of touch takes over.

Q You’re lip-reading as I speak to you but what about songs, can you hear the words of songs?

For songs I would lean my head against the speakers or wear headphones over my digital hearing aids to feel the vibrations, rhythm and sounds.. My biggest problem is that I can’t hear the words but can hear the sounds of the words being sung. Subtitles and written texts help me to follow the words being sung. As for lip reading, the use of both ISL ( Irish Sign Language) and lip-reading is of great help, given my low vision. Lip reading on it’s own is much harder, as in many words, the sounds are similar. And it is also the case, that in a lot of these words, the movement of a person’s lips looks the same. For example: when a person says fifteen, I would not know for sure if he or she is saying fifty or fifteen. But using both sigh language and lip-reading I know for sure what word a person is saying.

Q Music really is your life isn’t it, you also teach music?

Yes music is my whole life, and being deaf and partially sighted does not stop me from doing what I want. I have been teaching music since 1991. Although most of my pupils are hearing, I have taught Deaf children for the last three years and they absolutely love it. I hope in the future to have an after-school music club, and through that to continue enhanced teaching the deaf and visually impaired..

Q Talk to me about making a CD , how did that come about?

I got the idea of making a CD when I met and attended other deaf and blind musician’s performances.. and from listening to their CDs and reading their stories. These musicians in particular have inspired and encouraged me to make my CD, they are: Deaf flautist Elizabeth Petcu, from Dublin; Paul Whitaker, who runs his own music centre called Music And The Deaf In Yorkshire; percussionist Evelyn Glennie, from Scotland, and the Italian blind tenor Andrea Bocelli. I performed at an Elizabeth Petcu’s special concert two years ago in Dublin.. I also played in Europe for the Deaf International Dance Festivals, and at places like Vienna, Santender and Cyprus. Making my first CD was very exciting, and I hope to record another one in the near future. It took about 10 months altogether to do the whole album and I am grateful and fortunate to have had the encouragement and patience of Paul Solecki and Christian Martin throughout the whole process. The CD contains solo pieces and extracts from Bach; Haydn; Field; Schubert; Chopin; Debussy; Myers, and some traditional airs.

Q Can you tell me what your music means to you?

Music is a great healing therapy for the mind, body, and soul. I use my music as a way of overcoming my deafness and visual impairment. When listening to a piece, say for example, from Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, or from Clair de Lune by Debussy.. I am transported to a difference place where I can connect with nature, with spirituality, in a way that I cant not find in everyday life.. It gives me happiness and joy, and I think in this day and age, you can’t beat that.

Q And hopes for the future?

I hope my CD will encourage other people with any form of disability to use their own talent to take up and learn music. My advice to anyone with a sight and hearing loss is that they all have a talent or a skill. Discover that talent.. keep working hard at it... believe in yourself.. and eventually you will succeed and achieve personal happiness. I also hope that both primary and post primary schools will include a disability awareness programme and learn ISL – Irish Sign language, as a subject. This would help the hearing people to integrate with deaf and visually impaired people. Restaurants, hotels and bars need to think about having menus in large print and Braille. And, the Deaf and Blind should be given the opportunity to learn music in schools, learn how to be able to share this with everyone. And through this help them to grow in confidence and express themselves. I also hope to compose my own music some day and open a Music Centre for both the deaf, and the visually impaired..