Ayanna Mose Witter-Johnson (born Apr–Jun 1985, London Borough of Islington) is an English composer, singer, songwriter and cellist. Her notable performances include opening for the

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Ba ...

"Pre-Show" in 2016, and playing the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, London, on 6 March 2018.

Background and career

Ayanna Witter-Johnson was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n heritage; her mother is a teacher and her father is a television, film and theatre actor

Wil Johnson Wilbert Charles Johnson (born 18 April 1965) is an English actor, who has had notable television roles in '' Waking the Dead'' and '' Babyfather'', and on stage in ''Othello''. He played Dom Andrews in ''Emmerdale'' from 2012 to 2014. Early ...

.Dionne Grant
"Ayanna Witter-Johnson: String Sensation"
'' The Voice'', 8 February 2014. She began playing the piano when she was four years old and the cello at 13."Musicvein Interviews Ayanna Witter-Johnson"
14 March 2014. Witter-Johnson completed a first-class degree in Classical Composition at the

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

in the UK and won the Trinity Laban Silver Award in 2008, subsequently earning a master's of Music (MMus) degree in Composition at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

in the USA. While in America in 2010, she became the first non-American to win first place at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

's famous Amateur Night, whose previous winners included

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. Witter-Johnson (who shared first place) was the only non-American to have won the competition. She was a

MOBO award The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Bant ...

shortlist nominee ("Best Jazz Act") in 2012. Performing both classical and contemporary music – she sings while playing the cello and has described her song-writing style as "a bit of soul, hip-hop and reggae" – Witter-Johnson has toured with artists including

Anoushka Shankar Anoushka Hemangini Shankar (born 9 June 1981) is a British-American sitar player and musician of Indian descent, as well as occasional writer. She performs across multiple genres and styles—Indian classical, classical and contemporary, acoust ...

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964) is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

and

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

. She recorded with Akala and composed for the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

."Ayanna Witter-Johnson"
at The Nest Collective. She has said: "Some of my inspirations both musical and non-musical are

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

Eckhart Tolle Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, 16 February 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author. His books include ''The Power of Now, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment'' (1997), ''A New Earth, A New ...

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and Temperance movement, alcohol temperance. Truth was ...

, Berio,

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, Ligeti, Jill Scott,

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

and

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

....They have encouraged me to celebrate my authenticity, to explore my unique mode of expression and to write from a place of personal truth."

Awards

*2008: Trinity Silver Award *2008: Vivian Prindl Outreach Prize *2010: Winner of Amateur Night Live at the

in Harlem *2011: Edward & Sally Van Lier Fund *2012: Shortlist nominee for "Best Jazz Act" at the

Selected discography

*2011: ''Truthfully'' (EP) *2014: ''Black Panther'' (EP) *2018: ''Truthfully Still'' (EP) *2019: ''Road Runner'' (Album) *2020: Crossroads (Single) *2023: Ocean Floor (Album)

References

External links

Official website

Ayanna Witter-Johnson on Magic Classical

Ayanna Witter-Johnson (Musicbrainz)

Royal Albert Hall: Ayanna Witter-Johnson

"'Roxanne' , Ayanna Witter Johnson , live at MOBO Awards Pre-Show , 2016"
YouTube video.
"SheCAN: Quick Chat with Ayanna Witter-Johnson"
Alt-Africa. {{DEFAULTSORT:Witter-Johnson, Ayanna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 1980s births 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century British cellists 21st-century English women musicians Alumni of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Black British classical musicians 21st-century Black British musicians 21st-century British classical musicians English cellists English people of Jamaican descent Manhattan School of Music alumni Musicians from the London Borough of Islington Singers from the London Borough of Islington