Evelyn Glennie | Credit: Philipp Rathmer/Brigitte
Percussion superstar Evelyn Glennie, the daughter of a beef farmer and a schoolteacher, had never met an instrument she didn't like banging, banging, banging, or scraping. In fact, she has been at the top of her field ever since she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1985 and achieved success as modern classical music's first full-time solo percussionist. The fact that she has had severe hearing loss since the age of 12 also makes her journey even more remarkable.
Audiences in Los Angeles can learn about Glennie's musical life on May 11th when she and Deaf West Theater Artistic Director DJ Cars speak at REDCAT, where artist Christine Sang Kim also joins the discussion. It becomes an opportunity. Based on the semi-staged production of Fidelio, a historic collaboration between Deaf West and the Los Angeles Philharmonic that premiered at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2022 and will be repeated for two performances on May 16th and 17th. , the REDCAT event explores the creation and reception of music. The innate music and sonic politics of sign language.
Evelyn Glennie | Credit: Richard Ecclestone
These are the topics that Glennie, 58, has spent most of her distinguished life studying. Endowed with musical talent, she grew up in north-east Scotland and began studying piano and clarinet when her hearing began to deteriorate at the age of eight. Although she became an accomplished pianist, she began playing percussion four years later, by which time she had become completely deaf.
Recognizing that his limited hearing made playing in an orchestra impossible, Glennie was determined to define a new genre of solo percussion. Paving the way for orchestras around the world to spotlight percussionists, in 1992 she performed the first percussion concerto in the history of the BBC Proms, James MacMillan's Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which featured on Billboard. described it as “a pious heavenly concerto.”
And the rest, as they say, is history. Glennie, who was made a peer of the British Empire in 2007, has won numerous international awards, including two Grammy Awards and his 2015 Polar Music Award. In 2023, she became the first percussionist to win the Leonie Sonning Music Award. She is currently Chair of the charity Help She Musicians and from 2021 is President of Robert Gordon College in Aberdeen, Scotland. Continuing her life's mission to “teach the world to listen,” she established her Evelyn Glennie Foundation in 2023.
Throughout his career, Glennie has commissioned over 200 works from many of classical music's most prominent composers, including Michael Dougherty and Margaret Brower, and has collaborated with some of the world's greatest orchestras and conductors. She has released over 40 of her CDs, ranging from original improvisations and collaborations to percussion concertos and boundary-pushing solo projects.
SF Classical Voice caught up with Glennie via Zoom from the UK. During a wide-ranging conversation, she read the closed captions and this writer's lips, to which Glennie responded in a captivating Scottish accent.
What first drew you to percussion?
I started playing percussion at the age of 12. Like all the students at school, I was exposed to music. I was watching the school orchestra and thought it looked interesting. It was great to see the whole orchestra. I obviously wasn't concentrating on the individual notes, but on the fact that one person was playing the snare, another was playing the timpani, and another was playing something. Ta. I really liked the idea of each person being a soloist but within a section.
Evelyn Glennie | Credit: Douglas Robertson
As a student at the Royal Academy of Music, you knew your hearing loss would prevent you from playing in an orchestra, but you were determined to become a percussion soloist. What gave you that confidence?
Once I decided to become a full-time musician, I decided to become a percussion soloist. It felt right to me. I felt like I could continue like this, [that] I was going to have the support and the opportunity at the academy. [The possibility of] A career as a full-time percussion soloist did not exist. [then]. It was difficult to imagine standing in front of an orchestra. [but] I was determined to make this my career and needed a repertoire to sustain it.
Enter James Macmillan and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel written for you. How did it impact your career?
The Macmillan [work] It made a huge difference not only in my career, but also in people's perception of percussion. This wasn't just a good song, it was great music. It was incredibly satisfying for conductor, audience and soloists. I checked all the boxes. It was written by James McMillan, who at the time had a budding career. It was an important work and remains an important part of the repertoire.
Let's talk about the conversation at REDCAT titled “Seeing/Feeling/Hearing Music.” What can viewers expect?
It is a speaking effort and there are no performances or instruments at all. It's entirely a conversation with DJ Kurs and presentations by various people. DJ and I were invited to meet and have a mediated conversation. Christine Sun Kim will not be participating in my presentation, but she will join us at the end to summarize our thoughts.
So the audience will be learning directly from you about your life and your relationship with music from the deaf?
This entire symposium in May is about understanding how we can better connect: what listening and being heard means. What is the difference between hearing and hearing? And how can the Deaf community share music-making and all forms of art? To build bridges and find understanding and common ground? , it will be an important gathering of different people and different ideas.
I think it's almost redefining what we think of our senses. We're good at putting things in boxes, but that doesn't mean they're useful. [For example], the definition of classical music — what does it mean to a 10-year-old, what does it mean to a 20-year-old? It's a period in history. It ends up leaving us confused about what we are experiencing. It gets a little messy.
It's about understanding when someone is passionate about something. Obstacles do not determine the outcome. It's their passion and interest. After all, not all deaf people like music. [and not] All listeners love opera. It has nothing to do with the disorder itself.
Evelyn Glennie | Credit: Stephen Iliffe/Deaf Mosaic
This is when I realized that listening is more than just applying sound waves to your eardrums.
I'm not a medical professional, but I know that sound is vibration. The body is like a resonant room. Every part of our body can be affected by sound. [By] When we open our bodies as resonators to perceive sound, we begin to understand resonance better. Even when your ears are no longer hearing something, your body can feel a resonance. Listening is more than just hearing something. I'm paying attention to my whole body.
To expand on this point, you also said that “hearing is a type of tactile sense.''
That's because, as I said earlier, sound is vibration, and therefore everything depends on the sense of touch. When you think about all musicians creating sound, it's about controlling the diaphragm, controlling the posture, how the bow touches the string, how the mallet hits the string. [vibraphone]whatever it is — [there’s a] Tactile sense. You have to connect yourself to something. Even when I play the theremin, I am connected to the air and the universe.
The Evelyn Glennie Collection includes thousands of instruments hand-picked by you.
yes. Over 3,800 musical instruments form part of the collection. Some are small, others much larger. We have the largest timpani in the world. This collection also includes as many things as possible that were part of the journey, including sheet music, interviews, recordings, and the costumes I wore. [including] Different types of deliverables, awards, schedules, and contracts.
Everything has been in storage for the past eight years and we have volunteers who have put this collection together. We are always looking for more participants.open for tours [that] Organized by volunteers [and we] They are trying to find funding for a database that will be open to people around the world for research.
Much information from the collection has also been lent to the Evelyn Glennie Foundation, whose mission is to “teach the world to listen.” It's not just the basics of music. We target the arts, business, sports and medical aspects. Later this week, I'm going to a women's prison for work.I have worked with young people. [caregivers] Focus on young people facing various challenges [and are] I try to take them to work. It's all about employment and how listening skills can help employers communicate across challenges and achieve their goals. [these young adults] At work.
Evelyn Glennie | Credit: Chris Payne
And where are we at with your mission to “teach the world to listen”?
I think the May event will probably go a long way towards that. I don't know if humanity has ever been the best audience in history, but we must keep trying. Listening is completely different than it was 20 years ago. There's social media and the internet. More than ever, we read words rather than listen to audio.
Although our attention spans have become shorter, our ability to take in information, reflect on it, and feel it is greater than ever before. Listening internally requires even more caution. We are good at taking in information, but we are not so good at letting go of what is inside us. As musicians and artists, we try to feel what's inside of ourselves. [when] to perform written music. Listening requires careful attention.
It's the kind of thing we really rely on in times of crisis. When the pandemic hit, we went to music and art. But as soon as that ended, art was again in danger.art is one thing [that] Without it, we would be a completely different species roaming the world. Art is all about listening.