A MUSICIAN, who has been profoundly deaf since the age of eight, will give the next Gigg Lecture.

Yorkshire-born Dr Paul Whittaker will give a talk, Music to the Ear, outlining his life as a deaf musician, his work for charity and the unique art of singing for song.

Dr Whittaker read music at Wadham College, Oxford, and studied on a post-graduate performance course at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

In 1988, he founded the charity, Music and the Deaf, to help deaf people access music and performing arts.

Four years later, Dr Whittaker was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling fellowship to research music among deaf communities in the USA and began giving signed theatre performances, beginning with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium.

Since then, he has worked on more than 60 productions both in the West End and on tour, including Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Chess and West Side Story.

Ten years ago, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Huddersfield, in recognition of his music education work with deaf people, and in 2007, was awarded an OBE for services to music.

He will deliver the lecture in Giggleswick School's Richard Whiteley Theatre tonight at 7pm. Tickets cost £8 (£6 for under 18s) and are available from giggleswick.org.uk/rwt or call 01729 893180.