Meeting Topic: Touch the Sound - a film
Moderator Name: Joel Spector / Bill Siegmund
Meeting Location: New School University, NYC
The New York Section was treated to a viewing of "Touch the Sound", a documentary film about Evelyn Glennie, the noted classical percussionist. Glennie is functionally deaf and has been so since the age of 12. Despite this, she is a remarkable musical performer who appears as a soloist with orchestras all over the world.
Director Thomas Riedelsheimer, rather than make a conventional documentary with the usual interviews and performance clips, instead tried for something more ambitious—to make us see and experience how Glennie herself sees and experiences sound, and how her unique viewpoint influences her art. He succeeds to a remarkable degree by using the ability of film to control the aural and visual viewpoint of the audience--we see images of the world around Glennie and hear the accompanying rhythms and timbres of that world, which then emerge, altered but recognizable, in her own performing. In several scenes she plunges directly into solo, duet or group improvisations, composing "finished" works with apparent ease. We get the biographical details too, but they are blended in seamlessly, as we move through Evelyn Glennie's world. It's a thoughtful portrait of this passionate and engaging woman.
Prior to the film, NY Section Secretary Bill Siegmund recounted his meeting with Evelyn Glennie in New Jersey a few days previously. His intent was to invite her to attend our meeting, but a prior commitment to perform in Alabama caused her to decline, much to her regret. After the film showing, some of the audio engineers present commented on the outstanding qualities of the film's beautifully crafted soundtrack, which made full use of a very good playback system.
NY Section Chairman Joel Spector announced our intention to invite Dame Evelyn to create a Student
Workshop event whenever her schedule permits.
review by Robert Auld
