Beverly Glenn-Copeland (knows as Glenn today) is a singer, composer and transgender activist based in New Brunswick, Canada. Now in his late seventies, and with a musical career spanning more than 50 years, his records continue to defy categorization and genre. His four extraordinary albums, “Beverly Copeland” (1970) and “Beverly Glenn-Copeland” (1971), his ambient pièce de résistance “Keyboard Fantasies” (1986) and “Primal Prayer” (2004), went largely unnoticed, only reissued in the latter half of the 2010s. Having been absent from the concert stage, Glenn has resumed performing with his new band, Indigo Ringing, in Canada and Europe, and continues to relish the connection he feels with the younger generations now embracing his music. And it isn’t hard to see why: beyond his astonishing work – the life story (so far) of this warm, Black, transgender, formerly untapped visionary who trained in classical music, who, as a young woman, had lived as a lesbian until he found the language for his identity in the mid-90s – is captivating. WePresent spoke to Glenn, and a handful of artists who have been inspired by his work, about his captivating career to date.
