Finding Your Voice

Deaf America’s Got Talent finalist rehearses, performs with UTD choir

For singer and songwriter Mandy Harvey, all her music holds
a special, personal meaning for her — not in the least because she can’t hear
it.

As an up-and-coming vocal and music education major at
Colorado State University, the future was looking bright for Harvey in late
2006. Then her life turned upside-down; a connective tissue disorder —
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome — caused her to lose her residual hearing. No longer
could she hear the notes of the music she so loved; no longer could she hear
her own voice.

“You know, there would have been nothing I could have said
(to myself at that time) that would have taken away the pain, or made any sense
of the situation,” Harvey said. “The only way to really get through trauma is
time and a lot of hard work.”

At first, Harvey said, the going was slow. After leaving
Colorado State, she withdrew into herself. Eventually, she said, she realized
that she was responsible for moving herself forward, instead of waiting for the
world to change her situation for her.

“The biggest thing that I decided to do in moving forward
was celebrate the little victories — and sometimes that was waking up in the
morning,” Harvey said. “Or taking a step outside and looking at the sun even if
I was pissed off and I went right back inside. I made a step that I didn’t make
yesterday. And so that was a victory.”

Fast forward to 2017. By that time, Harvey had released
three albums, and was preparing to audition for America’s Got Talent, NBC’s
acclaimed reality TV show and talent competition. The AGT judges were so
stunned by Harvey’s audition that she received Simon Cowell’s golden buzzer,
catapulting her to the live shows later in the competition. Out of all the
contestants, Harvey placed fourth overall.

Now, following the release of her newest album in 2019,
Harvey is touring the country, performing with and teaching choirs across the
nation. Despite her deafness, Harvey said she’s fulfilling her dream that began
when she started singing in her church choir at age four: building a community
around music.

“I want people to know that they’re not alone. They’re not
alone in some of the awkward fears, they’re not alone in their anger, they’re
not alone in their joys,” Harvey said. “You have that beautiful knowledge that
you’re not struggling in the dark by yourself. That’s been the biggest help to
my career and songwriting. I want people to know the same feeling.”

Harvey was in Dallas for a brief residency with the Eisemann
Center, and performed with the UT Dallas Chamber Singers on Feb. 8. Shivani
Sundar, a biology senior and member of the choir, said rehearsing with Harvey
was a magical experience.

“The way she would listen to us, she used her body — because
she can’t hear, she can’t instruct us in the traditional sense,” Sundar said.
“So, it was different, but at the same time, she was so good at teaching
people, that it didn’t feel different from a normal choir rehearsal.”

Harvey said that keeping time and sensing rhythm is
relatively straightforward. When she performs onstage, she often doesn’t wear
shoes, and is able to sense the vibrations of the bass and drums through the
floor. As for hitting notes and staying with the melody, Harvey said she uses a
variety of techniques, aided by the fact that she was born with near-perfect
pitch.

“I use visual tuners every day to see what I’m singing, and
then get used to how that feels on my throat as I’m singing, and that modifies
throughout the day,” Harvey said. “If you find one note, then you can find them
all, just based off of how many half steps or how many intervals that is to
finding the next one.”

In rehearsing with Harvey, Sundar said Harvey gave incredible
advice when it came to songwriting, as well as a great deal of helpful,
constructive criticism in general. Sundar said that Harvey’s personality was
sweet and down-to-earth, and her sense of humor shone through in the way she
talked.

“I had lunch with her earlier this week, and it was like
talking to a friend — it wasn’t like talking to a celebrity,” Sundar said.
“This is one thing that I’m not going to forget, that’s for sure.”

With the help of an interpreter — and through her music —
Harvey is able to communicate with a world she cannot hear. Her songs, Harvey
said, have multiple meanings: one for herself, and one for the public.

“Don’t be afraid to fail,” Harvey said. “Truly, every time
you fail, you learn something new.  There
are so many ways to overcome obstacles and overcome barriers, but you have to
be willing to try, and to be willing to try means that you have to be willing
to fail. And it’s a beautiful journey.”