Internationally acclaimed deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie brought deafblind people together with other celebrity drummers, Blur’s David Rowntree, the cast of STOMP and Britain’s Got Talent star Kieran Gaffney, to launch a national drumming event for the deafblind charity Sense.
June’s Drumathon launch event in London saw Dame Evelyn lead a drumming workshop with deafblind children to help them appreciate rhythms and vibrations. The charity’s patron, HRH The Princess Royal was also in attendance. Speaking at the event, David Rowntree, said that “It’s a real privilege to drum with people who have a sight and hearing loss.”
Drumathon is a nationwide schools activity which took place at the start of July in over 200 schools. Up to 10,000 primary school children throughout the UK created a giant simultaneous drumbeat. As well as raising funds for the charity, the event was also designed to highlight the challenges deafblind children face with communication and to show that music is a powerful tool in enabling them to express themselves.
“Music has a wonderful way of joining people together from all backgrounds and ages”, said Dame Evelyn, adding that through the event the organisers were “hoping to drum awareness into the public of the almost quarter of a million people who have a serious impairment of both vision and hearing.”
