Liverpool Arts: Instrument choice like being in a sweet shop

DAME Evelyn Glennie is returning to Liverpool for the first time in a decade, appearing at the Philharmonic Hall on August 18 as part of this year’s DaDaFest.

The last time the 47-year-old played at the venue was in 2002 when she performed David Horne’s percussion piece, Ignition, with the RLPO.

Now she’s returning, this time alone and with “just a small group of instruments” to present An Evening With Evelyn Glennie.

Audience members can expect a half-hour recital, including contemporary and classic works for percussion such as Steve Reich’s Clapping Music, followed by a talk about her “journey as a musician, what sound is to me, and my personal relationship with the instruments”.

Glennie describes deciding what instrument to play as like going into a sweet shop, adding: “Which ones do you choose?

“You go with the mood, you go with the atmosphere of the hall, the audience, and just how you feel at that particular moment.”

It’s quite some sweet shop though.

Over the last quarter of a century, Glennie has amassed a collection of almost 2,000 percussion instruments.

“There are quite a lot to be sure,” she laughs.