Percussion virtuoso Dame Evelyn Glennie will
perform at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and work with students March
10-11. She will play with the UW-Stevens Point Wind Ensemble in a 7:30 p.m. concert March 11 in
Michelsen Hall, Noel Fine Arts Center.
Tickets are $11.75 and may be
purchased through the University Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus
University Center, 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378, or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu.
Dame Glennie is the first person in musical history to successfully
create a full-time career as a solo percussionist. She has earned three Grammy Awards, including “best classical instrumental
solo” this year, for her rendition of John Corigliano’s acclaimed percussion
concerto, “Conjurer.”
She has
been called one of the most eclectic and innovative musicians today for
creating performances full of vitality. She has
performed with the world’s greatest conductors, orchestras and artists
including Nana Vasconcelos, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, Sting, Mormon Tabernacle
Choir and the Taipei Traditional Chinese Orchestra. She had a lead role in the opening
ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
“It
really doesn’t get any bigger than this,” said Music Professor and Director of
Bands Brendan Caldwell, who is coordinating her visit to UW-Stevens Point. “Yo-Yo
Ma and Winton Marsalis were here, and they worked with students, but performed
with their own ensembles. When Dame Evelyn performs, it’s with our Wind
Ensemble.”
She
also will work with UW-Stevens Point music students and faculty in a master
class from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. March 10 and hold a question-answer session from 3
to 4 p.m. March 11, both in Room 221 of the Noel Fine Arts Center. These
sessions and a rehearsal with the Wind Ensemble at 1 p.m. March 11 are open to
the public. Area music instructors and students are welcome.
Born
in Scotland, Glennie graduated from the
Royal Academy of Music, London at age 19. She was awarded Dame Commander of the
British Empire in 2007. She has been
profoundly deaf since age 12. The
film "Touch the Sound" and her enlightening TED talk (Technology, Entertainment,
Design and more at TED.com) are testimonies to her world of sound creation
knowledge and understanding.
“The
Perception Project” is the theme of the College of Fine Arts and Communication’s
guest artist series to raise sensory awareness among audiences through entertaining,
enlightening events. “Dame Evelyn’s visit is an opportunity to reconsider one
of our senses,” Caldwell said. “She can’t hear, but she listens better than
most. She’s teaching the world how to listen through mindfulness.”