Evelyn Glennie

Evelyn Glennie
Evelyn Glennie at Moers Festival 2004
Background information
Birth name	Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie
Born	(1965-07-19) 19 July 1965 Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Occupation(s)	Percussionist
Instrument(s)	Percussion

Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBE (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo percussionist in 20th-century western society.

Early life

Glennie was born and raised in Aberdeenshire. Her father was Herbert Arthur Glennie, an accordionist in a Scottish country dance band, and the strong, indigenous musical traditions of north-east Scotland were important in the development of the young musician, whose first instruments were the mouth organ and the clarinet. Other major influences were Glenn Gould, Jacqueline du Pré and Trilok Gurtu. She studied at Ellon Academy and the Royal Academy of Music, and was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

Career

Glennie tours extensively in the northern hemisphere, spending up to four months each year in the United States, and performs with a wide variety of orchestras and contemporary musicians, giving over 100 concerts a year as well as master classes and "music in schools" performances;she frequently commissions percussion works from composers and performs them in her concert repertoire.

She also plays the Great Highland Bagpipes and has her own registered tartan known as "The Rhythms of Evelyn Glennie". Glennie is in the process of producing her own range of jewellery and works as a motivational speaker.

Deafness

Glennie has been profoundly deaf since age 11. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She regularly plays barefoot during both live performances and studio recordings in order to "feel" the music better.

Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to criticism from the media, Glennie published "Hearing Essay" in which she discusses her condition.

Collaborations

Glennie was featured on Icelandic singer Björk's album Telegram, performing the duet "My Spine". She has collaborated with many other musicians including former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, Fred Frith and The King's Singers.

On 21 November 2007, the UK government announced an infusion of £332 million for music education. This resulted from a successful lobbying spearheaded by Glennie, Sir James Galway, Julian Lloyd Webber, and Michael Kamen, who also (in 2002/2003) together formed the Music in Education Consortium.

Personal life

In 1994, Glennie married composer, sound engineer and tuba player Greg Malcangi, with whom she collaborated on several musical projects. They divorced in 2003 following her widely-publicised affair with orchestral conductor Leonard Slatkin.

Recognition

Glennie has won many awards, including:

• Best Chamber Music Performance in the Grammy Awards of 1989
• Scot of the Year 1982
• Queen's Commendation prize for all round excellence 1985
• Scotswoman of the Decade 1990
• Best Studio and Live Percussionist from Rhythm Magazine 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003 & 2004
• Walpole Medal of Excellence 2002
• Musical America Instrumentalist of the Year 2003
• Sabian Lifetime Achievement Award 2006
• Percussive Arts Society: Hall of Fame – November 2008

She has been awarded 15 honorary doctorates from universities in the United Kingdom, was awarded the OBE in 1993, and was promoted to DBE in the New Year's Honours of 2007. She owns over 1800 percussion instruments from all over the world and is continually adding to her collection. She was also a VIP of the music industry. Dame Evelyn Glennie is also an Ambassador of the Royal National Children's Foundation (formerly the Joint Educational Trust) which helps support vulnerable, disadvantaged young people at state and independent boarding schools throughout the UK.

Albums

• Rhythm Song (1990)
• Veni, veni Emmanuel (1993) (Catalyst 09026-61916-2. All pieces composed by James MacMillan. Scottish Chamber Orchestra.)
  • Veni, Veni, Emmanuel
    • Introit – Advent
    • Heartbeats
    • Dance – Hocket
    • Transition: Sequence I
    • Gaude, Gaude
    • Transition: Sequence II
    • Coda – Easter
  • After the Tryst
  • "...as others see us..."
    • Henry VIII (1491–1547)
    • John Wilmot (1647–1680)
    • John Churchill (1650–1722)
    • George Gordon (1788–1824) and William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
    • Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965)
    • Dorothy Mary Hodgkin (b. 1910)
  • Three Dawn Rituals
    • Larghetto
    • Allegro moderato
    • Andante
  • Untold
• Wind In The Bamboo Grove (1995)
• Shadow Behind the Iron Sun (1999)
• The Sugar Factory (featuring Fred Frith; 2007)

Films

• Touch the Sound (2004). Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer, featuring a collaboration with Fred Frith. The farm where she grew up burned down during the production of the film, but her brother, Roger (who is featured in the film), and the animals, were unhurt.

Autobiography

• Good Vibrations: My Autobiography

Television appearances

• ZingZillas (2010). Appeared in episode 19 ("Hide and Seek") playing tubular bells on the BBC channel CBeebies. and in episode 50 ("Where's the Bug?") playing the waterphone.
• Sesame Street (2009). Appeared playing percussion with Oscar The Grouch's Grouchkateer Trash Band.

External links

• Evelyn Glennie's website
• TED Talks: Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen to music with your whole body at TED in 2003
• Evelyn Glennie interview by Bruce Duffie