DAME EVELYN GLENNIE, WORLD’S TOP PERCUSSION SOLOIST, AT SAINT ROSE

ALBANY (September 21, 2009) -- The College of Saint Rose and Troy Chromatic Concerts Inc. proudly announce that Dame Evelyn Glennie, acclaimed as the world’s top percussion soloist, will conduct a master class on the Saint Rose campus.

Dame Glennie’s master class will be Sunday, October 18, at 10 a.m. in the Kathleen McManus Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, 1002 Madison Ave., Albany. Four Saint Rose music education students will have the unforgettable experience of performing for the celebrated percussionist and receiving her world-class guidance. The master class is free and open to the public.

“When I told several percussion students that we would have the world’s best percussion soloist on our campus, with no name mentioned, they immediately answered, ‘Evelyn Glennie? No way!’ We are incredibly proud and honored to have Dame Glennie coach our students here on our campus,” said Dr. Robert Hansbrough, professor of music and director of bands at Saint Rose.

“Troy Chromatic Concerts is proud to be collaborating with The College of Saint Rose in presenting this exciting master class by Dame Evelyn Glennie. This rare chance to have Dame Glennie inspire area students also inaugurates Chromatics’ Student Outreach program. Through partnerships with regional educational institutions, Chromatics new initiative offers students unique and more personal contact with the world-class artists whom we present to the greater Capital District in our concert series. We are particularly pleased for this opportunity for Dame Glennie to nurture an enduring interest in classical music in our youth,” said President Karl Moschner.

The evening before her master class at Saint Rose, Troy Chromatic Concerts will host Dame Glennie in concert with the Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Visit www.troychromaticconcerts.org for information.

Dame Glennie is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. As one of the most eclectic and innovative musicians on the scene today, she is constantly redefining the goals and expectations of percussion and creating performances of such vitality that they almost constitute a new type of performance. She gives more than 100 performances a year worldwide, performing with the greatest conductors, orchestras and artists. Dame Glennie’s diversity of collaborations have included performances with artists such as Nana Vasconcelos, Kodo, Bela Fleck, Bjork, Bobby McFerrin, Sting, Emmanuel Ax, Kings Singers, Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Fred Frith.

Of her 25 solo recordings so far, Dame Glennie's first CD, Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, won a Grammy Award in 1988. Two additional Grammy nominations followed, one of which she won for a collaboration with Bela Fleck.

Constantly exploring other areas of creativity, Dame Glennie has written a best-selling autobiography, Good Vibrations, collaborated with renowned director Thomas Riedelsheimer on a film called “Touch the Sound,” presented two TV series of her own (“Soundbites”) for the BBC, and appeared on numerous TV shows in the U.S. and U.K. including “The Late Show with David Letterman” (U.S.), “Sesame Street” (U.S.), “The South Bank Show” (U.K.), “Songs of Praise” (U.K.), “60 Minutes” (U.S.) and many more.

In 1993, Dame Glennie was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the British Empire). This was extended in 2007 to “Dame Commander” for her services to music, and to date she has received more than 80 international awards.

Opened in 2008, the critically acclaimed Massry Center for the Arts features the 400-seat Kathleen McManus Picotte Recital Hall, Esther Massry Art Gallery, choral and instrument rehearsal rooms, teaching studios, piano labs and classrooms. The $14 million, 46,000 square-foot gem ranks among the Capital Region’s most energy-efficient buildings, expected to attain a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “Gold” certification.

For more information about Dame Evelyn Glennie’s appearance at Saint Rose, contact Dr. Robert Hansbrough at 518-454-2022 or hansbror@strose.edu.

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