Composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland has announced that his upcoming tour will be his final performances following a dementia diagnosis.
“For a while now, we have been managing – privately, that is – my diagnosis of a cognitive disorder known as dementia,” Glenn-Copeland said in a video where he appeared alongside his wife Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland.
The couple go on to explain that dementia is an umbrella term for many conditions that affect brain function, and that 80-year-old Glenn-Copeland’s memory and spatial capabilities have been affected.
Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland said that the couple saw moments of beauty in the situation, and were taking a positive approach to the illness.
The musician, who publicly shared that they are a trans man in 2002, spent much of their career working in children’s television, and their acclaim as a musician came later in life.
A 1986 electronic album made by Glenn-Copeland became a much sought after item after it found a new audience of admirers after it was rediscovered by Japanese record collector Ryota Masuko in 2005. It led to the album, and several other works by Glenn-Copeland being re-released.
A documentary about the composter life came out in 2019 and many artists have now cited him as a source of inspiration.
In 2001 Keyboard Fantasies Reimaged saw some of today’s top musicians interpreting his work including Julia Holter, Kelsey Lu, Blood Orange and Bon Iver. While UK artist Romy sampled some of his earlier work in one of her dance hits.
In 2023 he released The Ones Ahead his first album in almost two decades.
