Evelyn Glennie grew up with her two brothers on her parents' farm, near Aberdeen in Scotland. At the age of eight, she became interested in the snare drum. It was around this time that her hearing began to deteriorate as the result of a neurological disorder. A few years later, she was eighty percent deaf; however, her Scottish stubborness would not let her give up. She learned to feel he vibrations of the notes, and to distinguish between thrm with the help of different areas of sensitivity throughout her body.

Evelyn Glennie had one goal - to play classical percussion. Not at the back of the orchestra, but as a solo performer - an independent artist. However, quite apart from the fact that many people believed that both her poor hearing and her petite stature would prove insuperable barriers. There was no established solo percussionist role to serve as a model. Evelyn's inexhaustible energy swept all objections aside. In 1988 she won a Grammy for her first CD recording, Bartok's "Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion" conducted by Sir George Solti.

Over the following years she played with all the great orchestras of the world, appeared several times as a solo performer at the renowned BBC Prom concerts and recorded a dozen CDs. She worked with Brazilian samba groups, Japanese ikodo drummers, Indonesian gamelan orchestras and with the Icelandic rock singer, Bjork. She commissioned contemporary pieces for percussion, therby constantly expanding her repertoire. Evelyn had achieved the heights at a very young age.