Life goes fast even if you’re not having fun. For this reason, doing anything half-assed is basically a crime against our own selves. Enter Dame Evelyn Glennie, perhaps the only true world-renowned percussionist in the planet. And it ain’t no accident, neither fortuitous luck. Glennie’s raw passion exudes out of her skin when she plays live, be it chop sticks against plates at a Japanese coffee shop or a ghastly acoustic contraption built by her in her spare time. Glennie rocks. Literally, she rocks the house…

Did I mention she’s appearing at Royce Hall as part of this year’s program for the revered UCLA Live!? Did I mention she’ll also be participating in a one-of-a-kind demonstration & performance for over 1300 school children of this town?

I probably didn’t say it simply because I still hadn’t had the time. I wanted to start poetically, I wanted to say something about her and her prowess other than just pure facts. I’ll let old-fashioned journalists do that…

But why should you change your plans and rush to buy tickets for this ‘artsy’ show? Reasons abound: you haven’t seen anyone do percussion like she does. Truly. In her case it’s a matter of raw trance. Intricate rhythms are ejected out of her fingers. Her eyes closed, the sounds emerge, float, linger… the crowd gasps.

Another compelling reason to make it to her show is that she seldom tours LA and perhaps she’s only here either because it’s UCLA Live or due to some unbeknownst Sefton maneuver in the dark.

In case you think you’ll be listening to a drummer, make no mistake, Grammy winner Glennie ain’t just that. Her immense repertoire and musical prowess will have you cheering long after you’ve clapped so much your hands are tired. She plays upwards of 60 different instruments although during this particular appearance she’ll only play around six.

Grab your visitors from out of town, be generous and buy them a ticket to this amazing show. When they return to Ohio or Delaware, they’ll tell the local crowd: “Man, LA is getting cultured… I just saw Evelyn Glennie at UCLA Live!

For the impatient out there, here are the bare facts:

Grammy Award-winning virtuoso percussion soloist Dame Evelyn Glennie, one of today’s most eclectic and innovative musicians, makes her highly-anticipated return to UCLA Live for the first time in ten years with a diverse recital including J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Steve Reich’s “Clapping Music” and works by contemporary composers from France, Germany, Iceland, Spain, The Netherlands and U.S.

Glennie will perform with an assortment of traditional and unconventional instruments, including flowerpots to convey fragility in Frederic Rzewski’s “To the Earth” and maracas to create complex polyrhythms in Javier Alvarez’s “Temazcal” (Burning Water). She will also play snare drum in Askell Masson’s “Prim” and marimbas in Matthias Schmitt’s “Sechs Miniaturen” and Leigh Howard Stevens’ “Rhythmic Caprice.”

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6 at UCLA Live at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. For tickets visit www.uclalive.org, call 310-825-2101 or contact Ticketmaster