A biography for Evelyn Glenniehasn’t been written yet.
“I want to be able to say on my deathbed that I reached a few people. That would be very nice, just to be able to say that.”
“I'm not a deaf musician. I'm a musician who happens to be deaf.”
“I am really quite fascinated by echo-locating bats and dolphins and have always wondered how sound affects the unconscious brain.”
“A large part of my work has been collaborating with composers; I think we've commissioned about 140 pieces now, a lot of them percussion concertos.”
“Once you're in a particular country, and you're surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music, you suddenly realize how much there is to explore and digest and learn and experience.”
“Before my teen years, I was losing my hearing pretty quickly, and I was getting very, very angry. I was beginning to become an angry person because of that.”
“And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.”
“I just assumed the world was full of solo percussionists. I couldn't find sticks or music or anything where I was, but that was expected because there was nothing there anyway. And I think that was possibly the greatest asset for me, just not knowing.”
“If I just simply let go, and allow my hand, my arm, to be more of a support system, suddenly - I have more dynamic with less effort. Much more, and I just feel, at last, one with the stick, and one with the drum.”
“My first real foreign holiday was my honeymoon 20 years ago, and we went to Bali. It was particularly special for that reason, I enjoyed it very much - I had packed music scores and a practice drum pad, suspecting that I would be completely bored, but actually they remained in my case.”
“A lot of things which come with a high profile will always be criticised one way or another.”
“Percussion is physical, as most instruments are. The body must function well in order to play the instruments well. Last year I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.”
“Anything you strike, anything you shake or rattle, or just anything that can be picked up, and you can create a sound.”
“I walk into a kids' store, and it's amazing, the types of instruments - little squeaky things, rattling things, spinning tops.”
“When I was 12, I happened to see a schoolmate playing percussion, and it looked interesting. I asked for lessons, and it felt right.”
“My hearing is out of the ordinary as others might see it, but not for me. I'm used to my hearing in the same way that I'm used to the size of my hands.”
“I often play on the cello-bass side of the orchestra, because I prefer the deep sounds. I can't hear the violins well.”
“What I have to do as a musician is do everything that is not on the music.”
“Your mallet or your stick goes through the instrument, the sound goes out and then wherever the sound goes nobody knows, you know.”
“The audience plays a huge part in how a piece will actually form. They really allow the performers to walk a tightrope in a way that never seems to happen in the privacy of your own four walls. I'm listening to the audience, and they're listening to me.”