Born in Huddersfield in 1964, Paul has been profoundly deaf all his life yet pursued a career as a Musician. A Pianist and Organist, he has a music degree from Wadham College, Oxford, a postgraduate performance diploma from the RNCM and holds ALCM and ARCO diplomas.

In 1988, he founded "Music and the Deaf", a charity to help deaf people enjoy music, which he ran for 27 years. In 1992, Paul began giving signed theatre performances, working on shows such as Les Miserables, Cats, Phantom Of The Opera, West Side Story, Carousel, My Fair Lady, and many more. He has also signed for The Sixteen Choir, Rambert Dance Company, Opera North, and at the Edinburgh International and Aldeburgh Festivals.

Also in 1992, Paul was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship, spending almost 2 months researching music among deaf communities in the USA.

In 2007, he was awarded an OBE for Services to Music and also holds Honorary degrees from the University of Huddersfield and the Open University.

In 2010, he gave the first ever signed BBC Prom - Sondheim at 80 - in the presence of Stephen Sondheim and with performers such as Judi Dench, Bryn Terfel, Simon Russell Beale and Maria Friedman.

In recent years, Paul has been working with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra on their "Feel The Music" project, visiting 13 different countries around the world.

Paul is passionate about signed song and in 2017, he set up SiBSL - Songs in British Sign Language - a website dedicated to raising standards and awareness of the art form. In addition, Paul adjudicates signed song classes at musical festivals around the UK and at the National Signing Choir Competition. He also runs 4 signing choirs in the North of England.

Paul has provided a series of Signed Songs for Yorkshire Youth and Music, as well as helping us to write a comprehensive guide on Singing and Signing, as part of our Singing and Signing project.