Dame Evelyn Glennie, the double Grammy Award-winning solo percussionist who has been deaf since childhood, will make her 19th appearance at The Proms on Tuesday, performing barefoot at the Royal Albert Hall.
A Unique Performance
Now aged 61, Glennie will give her first Late Night Prom, sharing the platform with the BBC Singers and the Fantasia Orchestra. The concert features Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music, music inspired by Radiohead, Duke Ellington, and John Coltrane, Caroline Shaw's Pulitzer Prize-winning Partita, and a world premiere from Héloïse Werner.
Glennie performs barefoot to absorb vibrations through her body, showcasing the halo, a percussion instrument that sits across her lap. She describes it as looking "almost like a spaceship," and notes it was used in her music for ITV's Code of Silence.
Teaching the World to Listen
Through the Evelyn Glennie Foundation, she works with schools, universities, businesses, prisons, and healthcare organizations to promote listening as a crucial skill. "Our mission is to teach the world to listen," she says.
The Evelyn Glennie Collection in Cambridgeshire houses over 3,800 percussion instruments and thousands of photographs, programmes, and memorabilia. It includes a rare glass xylophone and an Ugandan drum used to record the BBC's Morse code signal during World War Two.
A Life of Achievement
Glennie received her Damehood from the late Queen in 2007, which she initially thought was a mistake. She led over 1,000 drummers at the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, and she remains dedicated to exploring new instruments and staying curious.
She reflects on Beethoven, noting that technology and inclusiveness have changed the definition of disability. "For people to see me on stage allows them to think differently," she says.
