I’ll keep banging drum for those who need a helping hand
Percussionist Evelyn says it’s crucial to introduce kids to instruments in schools and lessons should not be cut
WITH controlled passion or intricate precision, Dame Evelyn Glennie has mesmerised us for decades. But the 52-year-old percussionist, who often plays barefoot to “feel” sounds, has given us more than her music.
She’s helped break down barriers and changed people’s perceptions of what you can achieve.
Brought up on a farm about 25 miles north of Aberdeen, she has been profoundly deaf since the age of 12 but became the world’s first ful l - t ime solo percussionist, has released more than 30 albums and won three Grammys.
She insisted: “We all have the opportunity to make a difference, whatever capacity we’re in.
“I have an empathy with hearingimpaired people. So my work and journey can be of inspiration to them and this is a source of great joy.
“Hearing is a medical condition whereas listening is an action. Therefore, we all have the capacity to listen should we choose to do so.”
Evelyn first had hearing difficulties at the age of eight.
She said: “I began to find it difficult to understand what was being said in the classroom, then at 10, I began wearing a hearing aid.”
She had learned to play piano and read music but music was almost lost to her after she became deaf. After seeing classmates at Ellon Academy, near Aberdeen, play percussion at a concert, she felt she could express emotion through those instruments.
Her parents bought her a snare drum and the school’s percussion teacher Ron Forbes showed her she could do it by making her stand with her hands against a wall as he played the timpani, teaching her to feel the notes.
Eve lyn said: “Ron was paramount in introducing me to the idea of feeling vibration through the whole body. This paved the way for a different way of listening and absorbing and understanding sound.”
At 16, she decided she was going to be a musician rather than a hairdresser.
Her next big hurdle was the entrance exam to the Royal Academy of Music in London. They turned her
down af t er her f i rst audition and the bolshy Evelyn asked whether it was because she wasn’t good enough or if there was another reason.
She said: “And there was the other reason – where they couldn’t quite see how a professional orchestra would hire a hearing impaired person.”
Having Scottish stubbornness, as she put it, Evelyn argued she should be judged on musical ability alone. She not only convinced the Royal Academy to accept her application but changed the admission policy of musical institutions all over the UK. Evelyn is pleased she has made it possible for anyone to at least have a go. She added: “Thankfully, attitudes have changed. There is a more level playing field for any young person to be given an opportunity, provided they reach the standard.” But some never find out whether they have a talent. In times of austerity, it’s often music classes that are whittled away first.
Evelyn said: “Music is not a ‘soft subject’. It is as necessary and important as any other and can be treated as such.
“Making sure there are the opportunities and avenues of support for all pupils to participate in music-making, the science of sound and the physics of musical instruments is essential.” She has said her mission is to teach the world to listen – and she’s certainly achieved it. In 1986, she made her professional debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. Her first CD – a recording of Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion with Sir George Solti, Murray Perahia and David Corkhill – won her first Grammy in 1988. Since then, she’s worked with the likes of Bjork, Sting and Underworld, with whom she collaborated on the soundtrack for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. In a memorable
moment during the show, Evelyn led 1000 drummers – many of whom have carried on playing.
She said: “It’s never too late for anyone to try to play percussion but certainly there is room for more girls and women to pick the sticks.”
In 2007, the acclaimed performer was made a Dame and last year, she became a Companion of Honour.
She said: “I use the Dame with care and when I feel it can make a difference.”
With her title, she’ll feel at home today when she plays Scone Palace in Perth for BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend.
She will be joined on the bill by Nigel Kennedy and Jamie Cullum, with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Simple Minds and Emeli Sande on tomorrow.
Evelyn will perform percussion concerto Dreamachine with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
She said: “I haven’t played Scone Palace before. I’m very much looking forward to performing at a unique event, with such diverse artists.”
Divorced from husband Greg Malcangi, she is based in Cambridgeshire and has more than 200 instruments in her studio barn.
Asked to pick a favourite, she laughed: “All of them. I do have bagpipes with my very own tartan The Rhythms of Evelyn Glennie. It’s one of the few non-percussive instruments I have.
“If I’m touring, what I take depends on the repertoire but the instruments are provided when I travel abroad.”
Evelyn, who has Eminem on her “wishlist of collaborators”, keeps touring and working with people in different musical forms.
She features on the debut album Standard Time by Edinburgh-based Trio HLK and is performing with them throughout the year.
Evelyn is writing a score for a new Royal Shakespeare production and will be celebrating Scots composer Thea Musgrave’s 90th birthday by performing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
And she’s part of the launch for Love is Listening, a film about connecting with people who have dementia. That’s just some of it. “I’m quite busy,” she said.
BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend at Scone Palace, Perth, starts today.
Attitudes have changed. There is a more level playing field DAME EVELYN GLENNIE ON OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PERFORMERS