Dame Evelyn Glennie has been announced as the recipient of the The Léonie Sonning Music Prize 2023, Denmark’s biggest music prize. Awarded annually to an internationally renowned composer or musician, 2023 will be the first time the prize is awarded to a percussionist.

Denmark’s biggest music prize was first awarded to composer Igor Stravinsky in 1959 and has since been awarded to the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Georg Solti, Anne-Sophie Mutter and last year's recipient, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. 

The Léonie Sonning Music Prize 2023 will be awarded to Glennie at an award concert on June 15 2023, where she will perform James MacMillan’s Veni, Veni Emmanuel for percussion and orchestra with the DR Symphony Orchestra.

The evening will also pay tribute to the recipient, with 35 professional and student percussionists from across Denmark performing a specially commissioned piece in DR Koncerthuset. The day following the concert, Evelyn Glennie will give a talk and masterclass at the Royal Danish Conservatorium.

Born in Aberdeen in 1965, Evelyn Glennie was the first percussionist to establish a full-time career as a concert soloist. Giving the first performance of a percussion concerto in the history of the BBC Proms, Glennie has gone on to commission over 200 works, as well as winning two GRAMMY’s, a BAFTA nomination and a CBE in 2007.

Glennie is deaf and has written and given talks on the aesthetics of deafness, musicianship and what it is to truly listen. These conversations will continue as part of the award, with Glennie joining Danish Radio host and presenter, Bendikte Granvig, to discuss working as a deaf musician and how she listens with her whole body in February next year.

Speaking of receiving the award, Evelyn Glennie said: ‘To be the recipient of the 2023 Sonning Music Prize is simply one of the greatest honours in my journey... Most importantly, the Prize reflects real celebration and inclusiveness. I’m delighted that the next generation of creative minds are able to participate in the celebrations of this extremely special prize’