Evelyn Glennie

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Evelyn Glennie

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Img_capt = Evelyn Glennie at Moers Festival 2004
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie
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Born = birth date and age|1965|7|19
flagicon|SCO Aberdeen, Scotland
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Origin =
Instrument = Percussion
Genre =
Occupation = Percussionist
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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. [cite book
title=Voices of the Oral Deaf: Fourteen Role Models Speak Out
first= Jim
last= Reisler
publisher=McFarland
location=Jefferson, NC
year=2002
isbn=0786412666
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=n-vHKNni8ZkC
pages=p. 39]

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 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. To date, these original works include 53 concertos, 56 recital pieces, 18 concert pieces and 2 works for percussion ensemble.Fact|date=August 2008

In a live performance she can use up to approximately 60 instruments.Fact|date=August 2008 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 handmade jewellery [http://www.evelyn.co.uk/jewellery] and also works as a motivational speaker.

Glennie is the patron of many charities supporting a wide range of causes including the deaf and hard of hearing, young musicians and people with a variety of disabilities.Fact|date=August 2008

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 regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better "feel" the music. [cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june99/drummer_6-14.html |title=PBS Interview, Jun 14 1999]

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 her now famous [http://www.evelyn.co.uk/live/hearing_essay.htm "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, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin and Fred Frith.

On 21 November 2007, the UK government announced an infusion of £332 million just for music-education. This resulted from the successful lobby spearheaded by Glennie, Sir James Galway, Julian Lloyd Webber, and the late Michael Kamen; they formed the Music in Education Consortium in 2002/2003. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/11/22/bmjulian122.xml]

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 Leonard Slatkin. [cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article481404.ece|title=Profile: Leonard Slatkin: Last night of the maestro who hit a wrong note|publisher="The Times"|date=2004-09-12|accessdate=2007-10-10]

Awards and recognitions

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
* Hall of Fame PAS - November 2008 [ [http://www.pas.org/News/Press/2008HallofFame.cfm PAS.org: News] ]

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. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6217693.stm 2007 honours list] , BBC website]

She owns over 1800 percussion instruments from all over the world and is continually adding to her collection.

Films

*"Touch the Sound" (2004). Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer, featuring a collaboration with Fred Frith.

References

External links

* [http://www.evelyn.co.uk/ Evelyn Glennie's website]