A concert coming to Houston is providing us all an inside look and understanding of how those who are deaf “hear” music. Emceeing the event will be KPRC 2 reporters Brandon Walker and Taisha Walker.
The ReelMusic concert is free and open to the public. It will be held Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Bayou City Event Center located at 9401 Knight Road.
Recommended Videos
ReelMusic 2022 celebrates music’s power to connect, unite and lift us up. The concert is providing entertainment to everyone, with special focus on those who live with visible and invisible disabilities.
The concert will feature past and new ReelMusicians, in addition to the ReelMusic house band of Andrew Lienhard (keyboard), David Craig (bass), Kelly Dean (sax and flute), and Gavin Moolchan (percussion.) Other entertainers include Helayna Barber, Teo Bijarro, a.k.a. “The Blind Bassist,” Kyle Cousins, Noriann Dogium, Brennan Emeka, Sashi Nisankarao, Heba Toulan and Sophia Velasquez.
American Sign Language music interpreters Amber Galloway and Kelly Kurdi will be helping to bring the good vibes to the audience.
Galloway has become one of the “most recognized sign language interpreters” in the world, according to Vibe magazine. She has presented at TEDMED and her ASL music interpretation videos have gone viral. Galloway is frequently praised for her ability to passionately convey the connection between lyrics and sounds and, more importantly, deaf audience members have often said they are able to connect to musical performances more than they ever had in the past.
Kurdi is a trilingual BEI Master level interpreter from Houston and a graduate of Gallaudet University, the only university in the world where students live and learn using ASL and English. She enjoys interpreting for all genres, but her favorite music to interpret is rap.
Mayor Sylvester Turner is officially proclaiming Feb. 23 as “ReelMusic Day in Houston.”