Dame Evelyn Glennie is a Scottish percussionist. Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire. Her father was Herbert Arthur Glennie, an accordionist in a Scottish country dance band. The indigenous musical traditions of north-east Scotland were important in her development as a musician. Her first instruments were the mouth organ and the clarinet. She studied at Ellon Academy Academy and the Royal Academy of Music, and was also a member of the National Youth orchestra of Scotland. She was a member of the Cults Percussion Ensemble, formed in 1976 by local musical educator Ron Forbes. They toured and recorded one album, which was re-released on Trunk Records in 2012.
Glennie has been deaf since the age of 12, having started to lose her hearing at the age of 8. This does not inhibit her ability to perform. She regularly plays barefoot during live performances and studio recordings to feel the music better. Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She explains that she taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to what she described as mostly inaccurate reporting by the media, Glennie published “Hearing Essay” in which she discusses her condition. Glennie also discusses how she feels music in different parts of her body in her talk “How To Truly Listen”, published in 2003.[
Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras, conductors and artists. Evelyn paved the way for orchestras globally to feature percussion concerti when she played the first percussion concerto in the history of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992. Evelyn performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London 2012, leading a thousand drummers in the opening piece of music, and then playing the Aluphone during the ceremony for lighting the Olympic cauldron
A leading commissioner of new works, Evelyn has vastly expanded the solo percussion repertoire with more than 200 pieces to her name from many of the world’s most eminent composers. “It’s important that I continue to commission and collaborate with a diverse range of composers whilst recognising the young talent coming through”. Evelyn composes music for film, television, theatre and music library companies and is a double GRAMMY award winner and BAFTA nominee. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians.
The film “Touch the Sound” and her enlightening TED speech remain key testimonies to her innovative approach to sound-creation. Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and now has over 100 international awards to date, including the Polar Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was recently appointed the first female President of Help Musicians, only the third person to hold the title since Sir Edward Elgar and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.
