An Evening with Evelyn Glennie – HMP Askham Grange

An Evening with Evelyn Glennie by Anon, resident at HMP Askham Grange When I arrived in the ballroom, I saw a large amount of different instruments and I instantly thought, “this is going to be good!” The room fell silent and suddenly Evelyn began to play the snare drum. As she played the tempo began to change and you could feel the … Read More

How listening can make a difference

Evelyn and I left Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire to the soft whispering of waves breaking on a sandy beach. Bit disconcerting as the nearest stretch of sea is at least 50 miles away. The sound, in fact, was coming from the ocean drum which was nestled between the paddle drum and the waterphone on the back seat of the car.  Each time … Read More

More Than Simply Drums & Cymbals…

Front Cover of 'More Than Simply Drums & Cymbals', subtitle 'A meander through The Evelyn Glennie Collection'

The wonderful Volunteer team for The Evelyn Glennie Collection have been working incredibly hard to bring this booklet together and we are delighted to be able to share it with you now. ‘More Than Simply Drums & Cymbals’ takes you on a journey through the extraordinary assortment of artefacts which form The Evelyn Glennie Collection, and charts the introduction and subsequent development of percussion as a solo instrument across the globe.

1st Earith, Bluntisham & Colne Scouts sleep in boxes for charities

Charlotte Beattie, Scout Group Lead (left) handing over the donation of £254 to Dame Evelyn Glennie (right)

The 1st Earith, Bluntisham and Earith Scouts slept in cardboard boxes to raise money for two local charities. The Scouts’ chosen charities were The Evelyn Glennie Foundation and St Ives Foodbank.

The young group decided to do a “Night in the Box” evening, which saw them sleep in boxes. They managed to raise a great amount of funds for both charities, including £254 for The Evelyn Glennie Foundation.

A very special donation…

Evelyn and the gyil donated by Bex Burch

The Evelyn Glennie Collection is a major resource for research, not only for percussionists and musicologists but where the entry points can be through history, geography, science, sociology etc. The richness of The Collection is augmented by the incredible kindness of people who donate items. It recently and very gratefully received an extraordinary addition: a Gyil, a Ghanaian Xylophone made … Read More

The City Lit Percussion Orchestra

It seems fitting to publish our first exciting news of the year during the Unesco Week of Sound 2024, which is currently being marked worldwide. January also happens to be our anniversary month – The Evelyn Glennie Foundation having been set up in 2023 – and we are delighted to be celebrating our first birthday alongside Evelyn’s new appointment as … Read More

Read all about it!

2017 advert - Volunteers Needed

A small ad in a local paper, an application, a telephone request to visit, an interview, completed with some amount of bluffing, an offer and a start date for an ill-defined role with no-one sure how it was going to work out, except it was going to be important and, ultimately, defining of a career. I opted for newspapers: a … Read More

Variety is the spice of life…

At the beginning of 2022 following my retirement and the relaxation of the pandemic restrictions, I was feeling in need of a new challenge. I found it in a post on the Nextdoor app which sought volunteers for the Evelyn Glennie Collection, a preferred volunteer attribute being “a mind that likes problem solving and bringing order to confusion”. That, I … Read More

Volunteer Social Gathering Day

Image Description: A set of five photographs, showing Evelyn and members of the Volunteer team. All of the photos show a variety of the Volunteer team smiling, some with people sitting and playing Uchiwa Daikos and Remo Paddle Drums, and some photos with people stood casually chatting with a light buffet on a table in the middle of the room.

What a pleasure to host our first Volunteer Social Gathering with my wonderful Volunteer Team from #TheEvelynGlennieCollection earlier this week. The skill and dedication of each and every person has brought this collection to an amazingly exciting point. I’m so grateful to each and every one of them for all their time, energy and enthusiasm. Volunteers really do move mountains! … Read More

Visit The Collection

Photo © Ian MacMichael A free guided tour by knowledgeable Volunteers We offer an amazing opportunity to view and be personally guided through The Evelyn Glennie Collection by our Volunteer Curator. The free tour will last at least 30 minutes and is suitable for up to six people. Arriving at the office of Evelyn Glennie in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, UK you … Read More