Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie demonstrates how sound becomes music

By Julie Webb Client Director

A person plays a large marimba on stage using multiple mallets, with microphones surrounding the instrument.

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Dame Evelyn Glennie is a world premier solo percussionist, who I am sure you will remember led the music at the London 2012 Olympic Games. I still can feel that tingle of excitement when the haunting sound of Caliban’s Dream reverberated around the Olympic Stadium as the torch bearers ran in to light the Olympic flame!

Aston Lark Director David Foster and I have been privileged to meet and listen to Dame Evelyn’s music on several occasions – David even enjoyed an impromptu drumming lesson with his hero at her headquarters near Cambridge!

Dame Evelyn, who featured in our Issue 4 cover story, lost her hearing at a young age and she says that ‘listening is the key to everything – and not just music’.

She says: “Most of the breakdowns or challenges that we have are to do with listening. They really do. It’s the one thing that is the glue between people.

When you think about the power of sound as opposed to the power of music, then we can begin to connect with other people.

The word ‘music’ is quite overloaded because the reaction could be, ‘I don’t know anything about music, I’m not musical, I don’t have rhythm, I can’t sing’ – all the negatives come down.

Think about just the sound. Take the time to digest that sound element. Then you have a pathway to link it to another sound and then another sound. And that, then, becomes music.”

We hope you enjoy these two videos that Dame Evelyn has shared with Lark Music

Feeling Sound

(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ7z4D7hDRc8Njzbm8Ydfg).

The Sounds of My Kitchen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SRqDPT7ZDk&list=PLMI2RgJjeg7D5OvWBTM0_IdQNsRxvlMB2

And finally, you can listen in to the Evelyn Glennie Podcast which features guests such as Bill Bailey, Debbie Wiseman, Yolanda Brown and Nicholas Daniel https://www.evelyn.co.uk/theevelynglenniepodcast/

Person wearing a decorative shirt playing a violin with focus and concentration, surrounded by green foliage.

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