Evelyn Glennie is the first person successfully to create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. As one of the most eclectic and innovative musicians on the scene today she constantly redefines the goals and expectations associated with percussion by creating recitals of such vitality that they almost constitute a new type of performance. Having commissioned around 170 new works for solo percussion from many of the world’s most eminent composers, Evelyn is a motive force in the creation of new music. The film Touch the Sound and ‘How to Truly Listen’, the inspiring TED talk she gave in 2007, provide visual and audio testimony to her inspirational approach to sound creation. To this day Evelyn continues to invest in realizing her vision to Teach the World to Listen. Evelyn and her company are working towards establishing a centre that will embody their mission: ‘to improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening. We want to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower.’

Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in history to create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist, performing worldwide with the greatest orchestras and artists. Evelyn has commissioned over 200 new works for solo percussion and has recorded over 40 CDs. She regularly provides masterclasses and consultations to inspire the next generation of musicians. Evelyn was awarded an OBE in 1993 and has over 100 international awards to date, including 2 GRAMMY’s, the Polar Music Prize, the Léonie Sonning Music Prize and the Companion of Honour. She was appointed as the first female President of Help Musicians. Since 2021 she has been Chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. Evelyn curates for The Evelyn Glennie Collection which includes in excess of 3,800 percussion instruments. The film Touch the Sound and TED Talk are key testimonies to her unique and innovative approach to sound-creation. She continues her life-long mission to Teach the World to Listen through her charity The Evelyn Glennie Foundation, which aims to improve communication and social cohesion by encouraging everyone to discover new ways of listening in order to inspire, to create, to engage and to empower.

Evelyn Glennie | Credit: Philipp Rathmer/Brigitte