Valuable lessons for hearing-impaired students
Drumming up support for music initiatives for children with special needs, Evelyn Glennie becomes a heroine for the hearing impaired, writes Chris Davis
Sitting in the audience, nine-year-old Locke was mesmerised as the mallets and drum sticks wielded by Evelyn Glennie seemingly disappear in a rhythmic blur. “Her performance tonight is music to my ears,” he says.
But like the Scottish percussion virtuoso performing with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Locke is profoundly hearing impaired and “feels” rather than hears music.
Anna, 12, a hearing-impaired student at Chun Tok School, was just as moved by the concert. “It was awesome. I wish it had lasted longer. I loved it.”
Glennie was performing for the second time in Hong Kong last week and on both occasions students from the Hong Kong Society for the Deaf, Chun Tok School (formerly the Hong Kong School for the Deaf) and other organisations were invited.
Perhaps to these students, Glennie is more than just a performer; she is an inspiration. Deaf since the age of 12, Glennie overcame the challenge and became a successful musician – even being named a dame by Queen Elizabeth in 2007. She had ignored a career counsellor’s suggestion that she should forget about music and take up accounting.
Glennie says being hearing-impaired should not be a barrier to achieving one’s goals.