Gillian Maitland Summer Percussion Seminar, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and Edinburgh Youth Orchestra, as well as winning many music competitions and awards for her exceptional abilities on the marimba. Throughout Maitland's education, she has racked up some single and long term lessons with some of the worlds most renowned percussionists. These include Dame Evelyn Glennie, Ney Rosauro, Kai Stensgaard, Joseph Gramley, Janis Potter, Nick Petrella as well as members of the percussion section of the New York Philharmonic. In 2005, after performing marimba to the G8 Wives at Glamis Castle and winning the award of Angus Youth Ambassador, Maitland won an
Evelyn Glennie the ceremony for lighting the Olympic cauldron. Glennie has been profoundly deaf since the age of 12, having started to lose her hearing from the age of 8. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at an international level. She regularly plays barefoot during both live performances and studio recordings to feel the music better. Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to what she described as mostly inaccurate reporting by the media, Glennie published "Hearing Essay"