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Bishop Helen-Ann shares story of who inspired her for BBC Radio York

First published on: 30th May 2022

The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Ripon, has been talking recently about the inspirational woman who got her to take up percussion playing, as part of a series on BBC Radio York.

As her remarkable woman Bishop Helen-Ann chose Dame Evelyn Glennie, Scottish percussionist and trailblazer for differently abled musicians as she is deaf.

On choosing Dame Evelyn, Bishop Helen-Ann said: "I chose Dame Evelyn because she inspired me to take up percussion when I was at school in the mid-80s (she was in the very early stages of her musical career then; she was a female role-model, and also [like me!] Scottish), and she continues to inspire me because, as she said in a TED talk in 2033, ‘my aim is to teach the world to listen’; she has never let her deafness stand in the way of her musical ambitions or brilliance." 

As part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations BBC Radio York are speaking to seven women in North Yorkshire about the women from the last 70 years who have inspired them, of whom Bishop Helen-Ann was the first.

Please click here to listen to Bishop Helen-Ann’s interview, which starts around two hours and forty minutes into the programme.

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