Errollyn Wallen (born April 10, 1958
) is a
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
-born
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
composer.
Life
Errollyn Wallen moved to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
with her family when she was two.
While her parents moved to New York, she and her three siblings (one of whom is the trumpeter
Byron Wallen
Byron Wallen (born July 1969) is a British jazz trumpeter, composer and educator. He was described by ''Jazzwise'' as "one of the most innovative, exciting and original trumpet players alive". As characterised by ''All About Jazz'', "He does not ...
) were brought up by an aunt and uncle and she was educated at a
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
.
[Jessica Duchen]
"Errollyn Wallen's 'Anon': Manon Lescaut for the 21st century"
''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 21 July 2014. She credits her interest in poetry and music to her uncle whom she described in an interview as "
Victorian" and responsible for her taking lessons in piano.
Before studying music, she trained as a dancer at the Maureen Lyons School of Dance and the
Urdang Academy
Urdang, previously known as The Urdang Academy, is a performing arts academy based in Islington, London. Founded as a ballet school by Leonie Urdang in 1970 and had been under the direction of CEO Solange Urdang from 2001 until August 2022, the ...
, both in London. She moved to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
to further her training at the
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served a ...
(1976-8)
but later abandoned her training, turned to
music composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...
and returned to the
UK. She studied music at
Goldsmiths
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold.
In German, the Goldsmith family name is written Goldschmidt.
Goldsmith may also refer to:
Places
* Goldsmith, Indiana, United States
* Goldsmith, New York, United States, a ha ...
(1981) and composition at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
(1983), and earned an MPhil at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
.
Wallen has stated that she had begun composing professionally before her studies at Cambridge University.
Compositions
Wallen's music draws on a wide range of influences, including
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
as well as popular
songwriting
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
. Her work has been performed in leading concert halls and theatres around the world.
Her first orchestral commission was a concerto for percussion and orchestra, written for percussionist
Colin Currie
Colin David Currie (born 25 September 1976) is a Scottish virtuoso percussionist. He is the founder and leader of the Colin Currie Group, an ensemble dedicated to performing and recording the music of Steve Reich.
Biography Early years
Colin ...
and premiered by him during the finals of the
BBC Young Musician
BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition broadcast wikt:biennially, biennially on BBC Television and BBC Radio 3. Originally BBC Young Musician of the Year, its name was changed in 2010.
The competition, a former member of t ...
competition in 1994. This piece was subsequently performed at the 1998
BBC Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
, making Wallen the first black female composer to receive a performance at that festival.
Compositions include the "multi-media song cycle"''Jordan Town'' (2001), ''Dervish'' for
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
and
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
(2001), ''La Luga'' for
guitar quintet (2002), the
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
''Another America: Earth'' (2003) and ''All the Blues I See'' for
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
and
string quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
(2004).
In 2006 she co-wrote a song with the astronaut
Steve MacLean while he was aboard the space shuttle
STS-115
STS-115 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by . It was the first assembly mission to the ISS after the ''Columbia'' disaster, following the two successful ''Return to Flight'' missions, STS-114 and STS-1 ...
.
In 2007, Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Leipzig Ballet performed her work, ''The Tempest'', with choreography by
James McMenemy. Her opera ''The Silent Twins'', with a libretto by
April De Angelis
April De Angelis (born April 1960) is an English dramatist of part Sicilian descent. She is a graduate of Sussex University who trained at East 15 Acting School.
De Angelis began her career in the 1980s as an actress with the Monstrous Regimen ...
, was first performed by the Almeida Opera in 2007.
In June 2008, she had a World Premiere of ''Carbon 12- A Choral Symphony'' with the
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...
.
In 2010, her piano quintet ''Music for Tigers'' was performed at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in New York City as part of the Summergarden concert series.
In 2012, her song ''Daedalus'' from the album ''Errollyn'' served as the opening and closing theme for the BBC drama ''
One Night One Night or 1 Night may refer to:
Film
* ''One Night'' (2002 film), a film produced by Winchester Films
* ''One Night'' (2005 film), an Iranian film directed by Niki Karimi
* ''One Night'' (2007 film), a film featuring Christian Campbell and ...
'', and her "Principia", which has lyrics about science, was featured in the
London Paralympics Opening Ceremony.
In 2014,
Melodia Women's Choir
Melodia Women's Choir NYC is a women's choir in Manhattan dedicated to exploring, creating and performing classical and contemporary music composed for women's voices. An ensemble of 30 singers, Melodia performs concerts in New York City, and supp ...
of New York City commissioned and performed the World Premiere of ''Full Fathom Five''.
In 2017, her work, ''Mighty River'', which marks the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in England, was performed at the Southbank New Music Biennial.
Recordings and publication
In 2004, Wallen recorded an album of her own songs and solo piano music, entitled ''Errollyn''. Her CDs include: ''The Girl In My Alphabet'', ''Meet Me at Harold Moores'', featured on the Brodsky Quartet ''Mood Swings'' alongside
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
,
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
and
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
.
Wallen's music is published by Peters Edition.
Honours and awards
Wallen was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the
2007 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2007 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2007, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2007.Antigua & Barbuda list:
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...
and
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the
2020 New Year Honours
The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...
, both for services to music. She has also received an
Ivors Composer Award.
In 2018, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
On 3 January 2022 Wallen was chosen by presenter Donald Macleod to be
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
's ''
Composer of the Week
''Composer of the Week'' is a long-running biographical music programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
It is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday at 12 noon for an hour, each week's programmes being a self-contained ...
''.
Academic appointments
In October 2020, Wallen was appointed
visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
of
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
at the
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...
.
References
External links
*
* Laura Barnett
"Portrait of the artist: Errollyn Wallen, composer" ''The Guardian'', 29 July 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallen, Errollyn
1958 births
Living people
20th-century classical composers
20th-century English composers
20th-century women composers
20th-century English women musicians
21st-century classical composers
21st-century English composers
21st-century women composers
21st-century classical pianists
21st-century English women musicians
Belizean composers
Belizean pianists
Belizean emigrants to England
English classical composers
English classical pianists
English women pianists
Women classical composers
Musicians from London
Alumni of King's College London
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
BBC 100 Women
20th-century women pianists
21st-century women pianists