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
combine composers lots
There's still a lot I need to do as a player, as a musician, as a sound creator. I have commissioned 170 pieces: that's still not enough, there are still lots and lots of composers I would like to approach. When I see a composer and I see a performer, I think to combine those forces.
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.
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.
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.
huge
The body's like a huge ear. It's as simple as that.
allow audience four happen huge performers piece plays seems tightrope
The audience plays a huge part in how a piece will actually form. They really allow the performers to walk a tightrope in a way that never seems to happen in the privacy of your own four walls. I'm listening to the audience, and they're listening to me.
picked
Anything you strike, anything you shake or rattle, or just anything that can be picked up, and you can create a sound.
healthier longer
As we live longer and healthier for longer, we need to keep ourselves busy... the diary is pretty full.
drum enjoyed foreign holiday honeymoon music remained scores special
My first real foreign holiday was my honeymoon 20 years ago, and we went to Bali. It was particularly special for that reason, I enjoyed it very much - I had packed music scores and a practice drum pad, suspecting that I would be completely bored, but actually they remained in my case.
reached
I want to be able to say on my deathbed that I reached a few people. That would be very nice, just to be able to say that.
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.
music
What I have to do as a musician is do everything that is not on the music.
human life tick
My whole life is about sound. It's what makes me tick as a human being.
planet power role
My role on the planet is to bring the power of sound.