Errollyn Wallen (born 10 April 1958) is a

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-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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

composer and musician, who moved as a child with her family to

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. Wallen was appointed

Master of the King's Music Master of the King's Music (or Master of the Queen's Music, or earlier Master of the King's Musick) is a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England, directing the court orc ...

in 2024 by

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, in his first appointment to the post. She is the first black woman to serve in the position; having in 1998 been the first to have a work featured in

the Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

Life

Errollyn Wallen moved to

, England, from

with her family when she was two years old. While her parents moved to New York in the United States, 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. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

. She credits her interest in poetry and music to her uncle, whom she described in an interview as "

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

" 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. The school was founded as a ballet school under the direction of Leonie Urdang; after her death her daughter and CEO Solange Urdang succeeded ...

, both in London. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to train further 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 ...

(1976–78) 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 ...

and returned to the United Kingdom. She studied music at

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

(1981) and composition at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(1983), and earned an MPhil at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. Wallen has stated that she had begun composing professionally before her studies at Cambridge University. Her memoir ''Becoming a Composer'' was published in November 2023. Leah Broad concluded in a review by saying: "''Becoming A Composer'' is a generous, warm-hearted book that all aspiring musicians should read. Her message that very real difficulties can be best faced with kindness, consideration, and collaboration feels important at the present moment, giving a blueprint for an optimistic future for classical music. ‘I am glad that I eventually gave myself the permission to do this thing’, she writes, ‘there is endless treasure if we can but dare to walk the path that opens up for each of us." Wallen is currently serving as

, the first black woman to serve in that position, appointed in 2024 by

in his first appointment to the role. She lives in

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

Compositions

Wallen's music draws on a wide range of influences, including

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, as well as popular

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

. 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 is a multi award-winning Scottish people, Scottish virtuoso percussionist. He is the founder and leader of the Colin Currie Group, an ensemble specializing in performing and recording the music of Steve Reich. Biography Ear ...

and premiered by him during the finals of the

BBC Young Musician BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition broadcast 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 the European Uni ...

competition in 1994. This piece was subsequently performed at the 1998

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

, making Wallen the first black female composer to receive a performance at that festival. Her compositions include the "multi-media song cycle" ''Jordan Town'' (2001), ''Dervish'' for

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(2001), ''La Luga'' for guitar quintet (2002), the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

''Another America: Earth'' (2003), and ''All the Blues I See'' for

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

string quartet The term string quartet refers 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 Violin, violini ...

(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- ...

. In 2007, Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Leipzig Ballet performed Wallen's work ''The Tempest'', with choreography by James McMenemy. Her opera ''The Silent Twins'', with a libretto by

April De Angelis April De Angelis is an acclaimed British playwright known for her powerful exploration of feminist themes and women's lives. Her work spans theatre, radio, and television, blending sharp wit with deep emotional insight. De Angelis began her car ...

, was first performed by the Almeida Opera in 2007. In June 2008, Wallen had a world premiere of ''Carbon 12- A Choral Symphony'' with the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

. 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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

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'', and her "Principia", which has lyrics about science, was featured in the London 2012 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 sup ...

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 The Slave Trade Act 1807 ( 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 1. c. 36), or the Abolition of Slave Trade Act 1807, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not automatica ...

in England, was performed at the Southbank New Music Biennial. The premiere of her ''Piano Concerto'', which was commissioned by Julian Lloyd-Webber, then outgoing principal of the

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and docto ...

, was planned for June 2020, but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The work was ultimately first performed on 4 November 2022 by the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire's Symphony Orchestra conducted by

Michael Seal Michael Seal (born 3 May 1970) is a British orchestral conductor and classical violinist. Since 2011 he has served as the Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), having served previously as the orchestra's Assista ...

, at the conservatoire's Bradshaw Hall, with soloist Rebeca Omordia. Wallen's choral work ''REIGN'', for organ and high voices, was commissioned by the WOW Foundation for the 2025

Women of the World Festival WOW – Women of the World Festival (WOW, WOW Festival) is a network of arts festivals that celebrate the achievements of women and girls as well as highlighting the obstacles that face them, and is part of a global feminist movement. The WOW F ...

. It was premiered on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

2025 at 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 ...

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 The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in 1972 as the "Cleveland Quartet", and subsequently named for Russian violinist Adolph Brodsky. Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas are original members, ...

''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 voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

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 ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

. Wallen's music is published by Peters Edition.

Awards and recognition

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 celebratio ...

, both for services to music. She has also received an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

, making her the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello Award for classical music. In 2018, she was listed as one of

BBC's 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

. Wallen was the recipient of the 2020 Incorporated Society of Musicians Distinguished Musician Award. 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 biographical music programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. It is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday at 4pm for an hour, with each week's programmes being a self-contained series of fi ...

''. In July 2024, Wallen featured on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''; she chose the second movement of

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 ...

's " Double Violin Concerto", performed by

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

and

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

conducted by

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

as her favourite track, a collection of Bach sheet music as her favourite book, and

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

as her luxury item. Wallen was inducted into Fellowship of

The Ivors Academy The Ivors Academy (formerly known as British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy works to protect and support and also campaigns the int ...

on 12 November 2024 at The Ivors Classical Awards, the organisation's annual presentation of

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

celebrating classical composition.

Academic appointments

In October 2020, Wallen was appointed

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, 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 fo ...

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 ...

at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

References

External links

* * Laura Barnett
"Portrait of the artist: Errollyn Wallen, composer"
''The Guardian'', 29 July 2008. * Errollyn Wallen
"From mini Mars bars to matters of life or death: Errollyn Wallen on becoming a composer"
''The Guardian'', 30 October 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallen, Errollyn 1958 births Living people 20th-century Black British musicians 20th-century British classical composers 20th-century British classical musicians 20th-century British women composers 20th-century British women pianists 20th-century English composers 20th-century English women musicians 21st-century British classical composers 21st-century British classical pianists 21st-century British women composers 21st-century British women pianists 21st-century English composers 21st-century English women musicians Academics of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of King's College London Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of the Urdang Academy Belizean composers Belizean emigrants to England Belizean pianists Black British classical musicians British women classical composers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Composers from London Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers English classical composers English classical pianists English opera composers English women pianists Masters of the King's Music