Amber Galloway Gallego (USA)
Sign language interpreter
The enthusiastic and optimistic American travels the world with music stars and dispels the myth that music means nothing to the deaf and hard of hearing. Amber Galloway is an artistic interpreter of musical performances into American and International Sign language. She aims to provide people with hearing impairments with the most comprehensive experience possible so that they can perceive not only the vibrations of music, but also its rhythm, mood and lyrics.
From an early age, Amber was surrounded by deaf people and she also loved music. She grew up in an African-American neighbourhood, so she was naturally drawn to rap and RnB. Every now and then, life brought her situations that called for improving communication between the deaf and hard of hearing community and the hearing majority, and an illness ultimately left Amber herself with a hearing impairment. Therefore, she chose a path of interpreting that her community lacked – the artistic interpreting of musical performances into sign language. Thanks to one viral video from the Lollapalooza Festival in 2013, Amber now interprets concerts of world-class musicians, with a special focus on her favourite rap and hip hop, and the demand for her services is only growing. “Interpreters are microphones for the deaf and hard of hearing community,” she says. She founded the Amber G Productions company and organizes training for interpreters from different countries who want to go in the same direction.