Dame Evelyn Glennie Given Top ISM Honour
Eminent percussionist is awarded the ISM’s Distinguished Musician Award 2006
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05 January 2007
The ISM’s Council has conferred the Society’s Distinguished Musician
Award for 2006 on Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE.
The Society established its Distinguished Musician Award in 1976, as a means by which the profession could acknowledge the outstanding contribution of a colleague to British musical life. Previous recipients have been Sir Alexander Gibson, Sir William Walton, Sir Peter Pears, Sir Adrian Boult, James Galway, Jacqueline du Pre, Janet Craxton, Sir Michael Tippett, Sir Reginald Goodall, Sir Charles Groves, Sir Simon Rattle, Norman Del Mar, Witold Lutoslawski, Julian Bream, Sir Colin Davis, George Malcolm, Christopher Hogwood, Sir David Willcocks, Dame Fanny Waterman, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir Charles Mackerras, John McCabe, Sir Malcolm Arnold and Pierre Boulez.
Nominating Dame Evelyn for the Award, Dr David Smith, the ISM’s East Scotland Regional Councillor, said:
'Dame Evelyn Glennie was born and brought up in rural Aberdeenshire, where she attended Ellon Academy before studying at the RAM. She is the first musician to have managed to sustain a full-time performing career as a solo percussionist: this has taken her around the world, typically performing in 100 concerts per year. She displays a dynamic flair in performance, and has acted as an inspiration for a generation of young percussionists. She is also in demand as a teacher, giving frequent masterclasses wherever she travels. As a champion of new music, she has commissioned 145 new percussion works from the world’s most eminent composers, including concertos and solo percussion pieces, greatly enriching the repertory. She has successfully crossed the boundaries of ‘art’ and ‘popular’ music, working with a wide and disparate array of artists: for example, she has collaborated in projects involving music for film, TV and radio, has explored improvised sound worlds, and composed songs with the vocalist Björk. She has received many accolades for her playing, including a Grammy Award in 1989 for a recording of Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos & Percussion. A woman of strongly held views and convictions, she often challenges established orthodoxy. She has received honorary doctorates from 15 UK universities, and was appointed OBE in 1993 and DBE in 2007.’
Responding to the formal invitation to accept the Award, Dame Evelyn said: ‘This is indeed a great honour, which I will be delighted to accept’.
The special medal for the Award will be presented to Dame Evelyn, a long-standing member of the ISM, at a suitable occasion in the near future.
Ends: 01 / 2007
Note to Editors: The ISM, founded in 1882, is the UK’s professional body for all musicians. It promotes the art of music and upholds the honour and interests of the musical profession by protecting the interests of musicians, raising professional standards, and providing legal advice and other benefits to its 5,000 members, who include performers, teachers, composers, conductors, organists, writers and others involved in professional musical work. The ISM's Distinguished Musician Award is a silver medallion, bearing the ISM logo and engraved on the reverse with the recipient’s name. Dame Evelyn Glennie's website is at www.evelyn.co.uk.
Contact: Neil Hoyle, Chief Executive, T. 020 7629 4413
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