new materials from Evelyn Glennie on AoB page

There are people around us who are truly special.
Since I read & heard Evelyn Glennie's thoughts on listening, deafness & hearing impairment, I knew she is such a person.

Dame Evelyn Glennie is well known as the first full-time solo percussionist in the 20th century and perhaps even all of history.
Her life is a story worth exploring, her words are extraordinary.

At 5 years Evelyn Glennie won a National Primary School Art Competition; at 8 she received the highest UK mark on the Associated Board Grade 1 piano exam; at 10 she began performing on piano in retirement homes. In 1985 she graduated with an Honours degree from the London Royal Academy of Music. Evelyn beat the odds to become a world-renowned performer, composer, commissioner, public speaker, & her music can be heard on every end of the spectrum, from classical, to hip hop.

Evelyn Glennie began to lose her hearing when she was 8; four years later she was profoundly deaf. She was able to turn this hardship into a blessing: because of her hearing loss, she has been able to “listen” to music in a much different fashion than most may imagine. 

She wrote some essays to clear her statements on what listening means, what hearing is, & what deafness has to do with it.

I really thing it is worth reading & listening to her, in order to raise a bit of awareness on what hearing, hear-impairment & deafness really mean.

I suggest two of her essays, the video & the transcript of her lecture at the TED conference in 2003 (with subtitles in 31 languages), her documentary "Touch the sound".

You can find:

- Disability Essay

- Hearing Essay 

- how to truly listen (video TED lecture) 

- how to truly listen (transcript of TED lecture)

- Touch the sound

For more info on Dame Evelyn Glennie, please visit her website: www.evelyn.co.uk