Errollyn Wallen (born April 10, 1958) is a

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-born British composer.

Life

Errollyn Wallen moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

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 exte ...

.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 publish ...

'', 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, 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 ...

(1976-8) but later abandoned her training, turned to music composition and returned to the UK. She studied music at Goldsmiths (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 cit ...

. 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: Theoretica ...

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" al ...

as well as popular songwriting. 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 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 bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

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 libr ...

''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 reedles ...

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 violinist ...

(2004). In 2006 she co-wrote a song with the astronaut Steve MacLean while he was aboard the space shuttle STS-115. 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, 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 t ...

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-earth ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus 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 2020, and has twice been nom ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

(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 celebratio ...

, 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, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The sta ...

'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 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

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