Featured In Syracuse: Sign language interpreters at music concerts: ASL rock stars (Enable: The Disability Podcast)
- Feb 27
- 1 min read
How do deaf people enjoy concerts? ASL rock stars Amber Galloway and Julian Ortiz are sign language interpreters for live music events like the New York State Fair, Lollapalooza, and the Super Bowl.
Through Amber G Productions, they convey singers’ lyrics to deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members; add emotion, energy and tone to the music; and interpret different genres differently, even for instrumental sections in rock, hip-hop, EDM and country songs.
“It’s actually linguistically sound language that we are showing that is based on the roots of ASL,” Amber explained, noting that a simple “air guitar” doesn’t have linguistic information. “What we do is we use our non-manual signals [to express] the different levels of sound... I can look at the guitar player, but I’m not going to know the tone if I’m profoundly deaf.”
Julian, who did sign language for “America the Beautiful” at the 2026 Super Bowl and helped with Bad Bunny’s halftime show, also explains some of the differences between American Sign Language (ASL) and Puerto Rican sign language, plus the “scary” experience of performing in front of millions.
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