Taken from an article on BBC News – Wales.
“An almost star struck schoolgirl asked “are they performing today?” as a group dressed all in black with white ties and gloves trooped past.
This degree of celebrity among fellow Cwmbran High School pupils is a world away from the isolation and loneliness many choir members felt before joining.
Last Saturday they performed in front of 56,000 people at the Principality Stadium, while they were now making their way to their latest show – for 20 pensioners at Ty Gwyn residential home.
Being part of the group has allowed many of the 12 members, who are severely or profoundly deaf, to be part of something for the first time.”
…
“The deaf unit’s 15 pupils, drawn from Newport, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent, would leave school and could suffer loneliness during holidays and evenings, as they were unable to communicate properly with local children.
But when Llantarnam school’s music teacher Mary Cole was asked to introduce them to music in 2011, she found a way of opening up a whole new social world.
“When lyrics are translated into sign, they find it so much easier to understand the emotions connected to them,” she said.
“They can’t hear it in my voice but can pick it up in my expressions and it is amazing how they convey it (in sign).”
Read the rest of the article, and watch a taster of their show here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37942912