Dame Evelyn Glennie talks upcoming new concert ‘Percussive Power’: “We ask the audience to simply be curious”

Following their latest collaboration at last summer’s BBC Proms, the world-acclaimed percussionist reunites with the Fantasia Orchestra for a special performance featuring an eclectic, innovative repertoire. Guillermo Nazara chats with the artist about the process of reimagining the classics, creating new work, and her quest to make music an unpredictable adventure.

How does it feel to return to the Fantasia Orchestra following your performance at the BBC Proms?

Returning to the Fantasia Orchestra after performing at the BBC Proms feels very exciting. The Proms is such a unique musical experience, and so the opportunity to continue our musical journey together is rather special. I love how we all have a platform to be curious and open, no matter what the occasion or venue. There is that wonderful sense that every concert matters and all our voices are heard and valued. 

There’s also something very special about sharing music with an ensemble that understands that music is about far more than playing the notes on the page. It’s about communication and trust. Returning to the Fantasia Orchestra reminds me of how exciting that collective process can be.

So, rather than feeling as though I am simply “returning”, I feel as though I’m continuing a musical conversation, and I’m very much looking forward to experiencing where that conversation takes us next.

This new concert features an eclectic repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Schnelzer, including your own music. What are the reasons behind this selection?

I love the fact that the programme refuses to sit comfortably in one musical box! For me, music has never been about boundaries – the only categorization is that there is a whole sea of music out there for us to swim in and with. 

The journey from Vivaldi through Schnelzer, Kate Bush and music in the spirit of Piazzolla, alongside my own work, might initially seem like a rather unexpected journey. But when you start listening beneath the surface, there are fascinating connections: rhythm, pulse, gesture, colour, energy, tension, and release. These things belong to all music.

Working with the Fantasia Orchestra gives us a wonderful opportunity to explore these connections. An orchestra can move between very different sound worlds, and I enjoy the sense of discovery that comes with that. The aim is to let the individuality of each piece remain alive while allowing unexpected relationships between them to emerge.

This programme asks us to listen without preconceived ideas. What happens if we hear Vivaldi on a vibraphone? What happens when contemporary music sits alongside Kate Bush? Where does a Piazzolla-inspired rhythm take us? And how might my own music change the way we hear everything that comes before or after it?

For me, a concert should open a door. I hope this programme gives the audience permission to be curious.

How challenging is it to comprise such a broad repertoire, especially as a percussionist?

It can be challenging, but I think the challenge is also where the curiosity lies. As a percussionist, I’m fortunate in some ways because my instrument is not one instrument – it’s a family. It’s a whole world of sounds, materials, colours, attacks, frequencies, dynamics, and possibilities. It isn’t simply a matter of learning notes. I have to consider the character of the sound, the weight of a stroke, the resonance of a particular instrument, the space around it, and the relationship between my sound and that of the orchestra.

Percussion can so easily become about the obvious such as the impact, the volume, the physical spectacle. I’m often more interested in what happens before and after the sound. How does a single stroke change the atmosphere? How long does a resonance continue? What happens when I play less rather than more? Those questions become important to interrogate when moving between such contrasting musical languages.

There is also a very physical element. I might be moving between different instruments and techniques, but I don’t think of that as simply a technical exercise. The body has to understand the music. I need to find the appropriate physical language for each piece but yet be totally in tune with my own natural bodily flow.

What’s been the process of reimagining Vivaldi’s music as a percussion-driven piece?

I was inspired to explore Vivaldi’s Piccolo Recorder Concerto after experiencing live many years ago. I immediately felt it would transcribe well onto the vibraphone. In fact, I feel it works so well that I’m sure Vivaldi would have written a Vibraphone Concerto! The articulation and sustain of the piece is ideal for the vibraphone, and the sound colour gives the piece a contemporary feel. 

Vivaldi wrote music hundreds of years ago, yet the rhythm, lyricism and energy have no age or ‘sell-by’ date. These things remain completely alive. The aim isn’t to make Vivaldi sound like percussion music. It’s to allow percussion to ask new questions of Vivaldi. When we change the way we listen, we can sometimes discover that a piece we thought we knew contains far more possibilities than we had imagined. That’s the joy of reimagining music: not changing its identity, but allowing another side of its identity to reveal itself.

What can you tell us about the original pieces you will perform?

If you are referring to A Little Prayer, here is a blog I wrote about the piece: https://www.evelyn.co.uk/a-little-prayer-from-a-simple-exercise-to-global-resonance/

What is your creative process like when coming up with a new percussion piece?

The process can vary greatly. An idea may come from improvising or experimenting or an image or feeling, or I may be given a certain remit. There is no set way that I compose although if I’m writing for tuned percussion, I often start at the piano and then morph to the intended instrument. Writing library music or music for film/TV is very different to writing for the concert platform.

I think of percussion as a vast vocabulary rather than a single entity. Wood, metal, skin, stone, glass, paper, almost anything can become part of the conversation. Each material has its own character, and I like to spend time discovering that character rather than imposing an idea upon it.

The physical relationship with sound is also fundamental. I want to understand how a sound feels as well as how it sounds. Where does the vibration travel? What happens to the sound when I change the pressure, speed, or point of contact? How does the space around me alter what I hear? These questions can be just as important as rhythm or melody.

Eventually, patterns and relationships begin to emerge. I start to recognise what the piece might be saying and what it needs in order to breathe. At that point, composition becomes a process of shaping and refining rather than simply adding more.

Perhaps the most important thing is to remain curious. I don’t want to arrive at the instrument already knowing the answer. I want to be surprised by what I discover. For me, creating a new percussion piece is ultimately a conversation between myself, the sound, the space, and the listener, so I never quite know where that conversation will lead.

Are there any other particular challenges you’ve found in this concert, either on a performative or creative level?

A lot will be revealed once we start rehearsing together as we’ve not performed this particular programme yet. When you bring together music that comes from different places and periods, the challenge is finding the thread that allows the audience to experience the programme as one journey.

There’s also the challenge of balancing familiarity and surprise. We want audiences to recognise something, but at the same time I hope we can gently disrupt their expectations. If someone comes expecting to hear Vivaldi in one particular way, what happens if we invite them to experience it slightly differently? 

The collaboration with the Fantasia Orchestra is important here because it isn’t about one person imposing an interpretation. It’s about listening to one another and creating something collectively. A concert can have a degree of risk to it. If everything is completely predictable, where is the opportunity for discovery? 

Are there any highlights in this concert that you’d like to flag?

I’d be reluctant to single out one piece because the contrasts between them are really part of the experience. For me, one of the highlights would be the Vivaldi. There is something unexpected about taking music that feels familiar and allowing a different instrument to bring another dimension to it

I’m excited about the more contemporary repertoire because it gives us the opportunity to continue our sound exploration. With Schneltzer, for example, there is a wonderful sense of colour and texture, and those qualities are particularly fascinating from a percussionist’s perspective. 

I think the main highlight will be the unexpected connections that emerge between the pieces. I’d encourage audiences not to worry too much about categorising what they hear. Just listen and feel and allow the programme to take you somewhere.

If we can leave people thinking, “I didn’t expect those pieces to belong together, but somehow they do,” then I think we’ve achieved something rather positive.

Why come see Percussive Power?

Because I hope it will make you hear music and perhaps even silence a little differently.

This isn’t a concert where percussion simply sits at the back of the orchestra and occasionally makes a loud entrance! Percussion is at the heart of the musical conversation, and that gives us an extraordinary opportunity to explore rhythm, colour, texture, resonance, and movement in ways that can be deeply physical.

There is of course the Fantasia Orchestra. Music-making at its best is a conversation, and I’m excited by the way this collaboration allows us to respond to one another and create something that exists in that particular moment, in that particular space.

We ask the audience to simply be curious.

Pictures credit to Chris Payne, Ian Olsson, and Chronic Creative (mentioned in order of appearance).

Percussive Power will play at London’s Square Smith Hall on 29 November. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara