Evelyn GlennieGuest
Adi BraunHost
I'm just taking in the information that you're giving me here, and it sounds still like a very rich and happy childhood.

One has to always be careful how we interpret the word happy, but it sounds that there was a lot of fulfillment in your everyday existence.

So my next question, nurturing love and positive encouragement are pivotal in any child's life.

And I'm thinking perhaps even more so when a child like yourself faces a challenge as grave as hearing loss.

Looking back onto those formative years, what moments of empathy or support from your family or your school stand out? And how did those early experiences shape you and your confidence and your resilience and what might be possible for you?

Well, I did indeed have a happy childhood, a very secure and safe childhood, thankfully, and a very free one.

Again, those were the days where you could really go outside without parents being too worried because they knew the community was looking after you.

I had a very good support system at both primary school and secondary school.

And the secondary school I went to was classed as a community school, and it meant that it was open to all children in that catchment area, no matter what their circumstance, within reason, obviously.

And so the school was kitted out with ramps for any youngster that happened to be in a wheelchair or needed more physical support.

There were areas of the school that were painted in certain colours in order to accommodate sight impaired kids.

There were support teachers for the deaf, for kids like myself, in order to be sure that we were up to speed with our school work and that type of thing.

We raised money for a couple of phonic ears which myself and another boy used so that it was basically a device that we wore and the teacher wore and the teacher could then continue to walk around the classroom and we could still pick up what they were saying.

The school was just incredibly good at recognising that every child has a story to tell and every child belonged to every department of the school.

And so when you've got that kind of ethos and that sort of mindset that feeds through staff and pupils, it's incredible then what a collective of people can do.

And so I was just extremely lucky to be in that kind of arena or that landscape where the support was so prominent.

And I think it's proved to be such an important part of how I've been able to move forward because you feel listened to.

And it's been hugely important in the work that I've carried on as a musician and through the Evelyn Glennie Foundation and through the Evelyn Glennie Collection.

It really is, you know, recognising how a career has been carved through the act of listening.

You know, when you think about All the challenges we have, whether it's domestically, whether it's in the workplace, whether it's socially, politically, you name it.

I'm just taking in the information that you're giving me here, and it sounds still like a very rich and happy childhood.

One has to always be careful how we interpret the word happy, but it sounds that there was a lot of fulfillment in your everyday existence.

So my next question, nurturing love and positive encouragement are pivotal in any child's life.

And I'm thinking perhaps even more so when a child like yourself faces a challenge as grave as hearing loss.

Looking back onto those formative years, what moments of empathy or support from your family or your school stand out? And how did those early experiences shape you and your confidence and your resilience and what might be possible for you?

Well, I did indeed have a happy childhood, a very secure and safe childhood, thankfully, and a very free one.

Again, those were the days where you could really go outside without parents being too worried because they knew the community was looking after you.

I had a very good support system at both primary school and secondary school.

And the secondary school I went to was classed as a community school, and it meant that it was open to all children in that catchment area, no matter what their circumstance, within reason, obviously.

And so the school was kitted out with ramps for any youngster that happened to be in a wheelchair or needed more physical support.

There were areas of the school that were painted in certain colours in order to accommodate sight impaired kids.

There were support teachers for the deaf, for kids like myself, in order to be sure that we were up to speed with our school work and that type of thing.

We raised money for a couple of phonic ears which myself and another boy used so that it was basically a device that we wore and the teacher wore and the teacher could then continue to walk around the classroom and we could still pick up what they were saying.

The school was just incredibly good at recognising that every child has a story to tell and every child belonged to every department of the school.

And so when you've got that kind of ethos and that sort of mindset that feeds through staff and pupils, it's incredible then what a collective of people can do.

And so I was just extremely lucky to be in that kind of arena or that landscape where the support was so prominent.

And I think it's proved to be such an important part of how I've been able to move forward because you feel listened to.

And it's been hugely important in the work that I've carried on as a musician and through the Evelyn Glennie Foundation and through the Evelyn Glennie Collection.

It really is, you know, recognising how a career has been carved through the act of listening.

You know, when you think about All the challenges we have, whether it's domestically, whether it's in the workplace, whether it's socially, politically, you name it.
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