The Sound of Music

The Sound Of Music

​​​​​​​      Rush hour crowds jostle for position on the underground train platform. A slight girl, looking younger than her 17 years, was nervous yet excited as she felt the vibrations of the approaching train. It was her first day it the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London and daunting enough for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But this aspiring musician faced a bigger challenge then most: she was profoundly deaf.

      Evelyn Glennie's loss of hearing had been ​​​​​​gradual. her mother remember noticing something was wrong when the 8 years old everyone was a waiting to play the piano.  They called her name and she didn't move. I suddenly realised she hadn't heard,​​​ says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn managed to conceal her growing deafness from friends and teachers. But by the time she was eleven her marks had deteriorated and her headmistress urged her parents to take  her to a specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing was severely in impaired as a result of gradual nerve damage. They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf. "Everything suddenly looked black‚" says Evelyn.

     But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was​​​​ determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. One day she notice playing a girl playing xylophone and decided that she wanted to play is it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. he be can buy turning to large in drum sir to different notes. "Don't listen through your ears," he would say, "try to sence it some other way." Says Evelyn, "Suddenly I realised I could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower ​​​​​​