Evelyn Glennie
Evelyn Glennie |
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Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBE (born July 19 1965 in Aberdeen) is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She was the first full-time solo professional percussionist in 20th century western society.
Background
Evelyn Glennie was brought up on a farm in Aberdeenshire near where she was born. 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.
Career
Glennie tours extensively in the northern hemisphere, spending up to four months each year in the United States, and performs with an extraordinarily 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. To date, these original works include 53 concertos, 56 recital pieces, 18 concert pieces and 2 works for percussion ensemble.
In a live performance she can use up to approximately 60 instruments. She also plays the Great Highland Bagpipes and has her own registered tartan known as 'The Rhythms of Evelyn Glennie'. Glennie also produces her own range of handmade jewellery. [1]
Deafness
Glennie has been profoundly deaf – meaning that she has some very limited hearing – since age 12. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She is the patron of many charities supporting the deaf, young musicians, and people with a variety of disabilities including the ADAPT Trust and Aberdeen International Youth Festival. She regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better "feel" the music.[1]
Evelyn 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 the misguided attention directed to her from the media, Glennie published her now famous Hearing Essay in which she personally discusses her condition.
Collaborations
She has also featured on Icelandic singer Björk's album Telegram, performing the duet "My Spine" and she has collaborated with former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett.
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 Leonard Slatkin.
Awards and recognitions
Evelyn Glennie has won many awards for her playing, including Best Chamber Music Performance in the Grammy Awards of 1989, for her recording of Béla Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion (with David Corkhill, Evelyn Glennie, Murray Perahia & Georg Solti).
She is the recipient of fifteen honorary doctorates from universities in the United Kingdom, was awarded the OBE in 1993 and promoted to DBE in the New Year's Honours of 2007. [2] She owns over 1800 percussion instruments.
Glennie was also given the golden opportunity to open Rosebery School's (Epsom Surrey) music block and her name is on a bronze plate hanging in Rosebery School.
Films
- Touch the Sound (2004). Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer, featuring a collaboration with Fred Frith.
References
- ^ "PBS Interview, Jun 14 1999".
- ^ 2007 honours list, BBC website