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.

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

Seeking a Trustee Treasurer…

The Evelyn Glennie Foundation is a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) enabling change, connection and collaboration through better listening. Our unique mission is to 'Teach the World to Listen'. The remarkable career of Dame Evelyn Glennie has pushed the boundaries of percussion beyond all recognition. The Foundation will use her distinctive listening practices, legacy and vast career archive to inspire active, ... Read More

History in the making…

A little bit of history was made last week. I was honoured to be the first percussionist to receive the Léonie Sonning Music Prize. My acceptance speech included the following: “I am extremely honoured to address you all this evening. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined standing here receiving an award as important and symbolic as the Leonie … 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

Listen book wins award

Congratulations to Shannon Stocker and Devon Holzwarth on winning the Schneider Family Book Award for best Picture Book in the 2023 American Library Association Youth Media Awards, for Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion! For those of you not familiar with the award, the Schneider Family Book Awards honour an author or illustrator for a book that … Read More

Access All Areas – Scala Radio

Scala Radio - Access All Areas - Show Icon

I’m delighted to share the news that my #AccessAllAreas with Scala Radio is getting some really important and wonderful feedback. In the UK, November marks Disability History Month, and this 4-part series will challenge expectations of what it means to be a disabled musician today.

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