Evelyn Glennie
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, DBEis a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. She is announced as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionDrummer
Date of Birth19 July 1965
hearing might size
My hearing is out of the ordinary as others might see it, but not for me. I'm used to my hearing in the same way that I'm used to the size of my hands.
planet power role
My role on the planet is to bring the power of sound.
huge
The body's like a huge ear. It's as simple as that.
deaf profoundly
How can a profoundly deaf person become a musician?
dry experience
Marimba is much more of a wood-type experience and there is no real possibility of getting a dry sound, and getting that contrast in the same way that you can in a vibraphone.
human life tick
My whole life is about sound. It's what makes me tick as a human being.
assumed career classical fact full music realized solo studied
Of course, I just assumed that the world was full of solo percussionists. It was only when I studied music full time, in London, that I realized that the career of a full-time classical percussionist did not in fact exist. It had to be created.
instrument notice tiny
It's the things that you notice when you're not actually with your instrument that, in fact, become so interesting, and that you - you want to explore, through this tiny tiny surface of a drum.
goes stick wherever
Your mallet or your stick goes through the instrument, the sound goes out and then wherever the sound goes nobody knows, you know.
musician deaf happens
I'm not a deaf musician. I'm a musician who happens to be deaf.
motivation inspiration medicine
Music really is our daily medicine.
echoes brain sound
I am really quite fascinated by echo-locating bats and dolphins and have always wondered how sound affects the unconscious brain.
way profile one-way
A lot of things which come with a high profile will always be criticised one way or another.
london royal musician
And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.