Errollyn Wallen - 'renaissance woman of contemporary British music' (The Observer) - is as respected a singer-songwriter of pop influenced songs as she is a composer of contemporary new music. Communication is at the centre of both worlds: engaging the audience, speaking directly to hearts and minds.
Born in Belize, Errollyn Wallen gave up her training at the Dance Theater of Harlem, New York to study composition at universities of London and Cambridge. She founded her own Ensemble X and its motto, we don’t break down barriers in music… we don’t see any, reflects her genuine, free-spirited approach and eclectic musicianship. She has been commissioned by outstanding music institutions from the BBC to the Royal Opera House and performed her songs at venues from night clubs to the Edinburgh Festival.
Errollyn Wallen’s song Daedalus appears alongside songs by Björk, Sting, Elvis Costello and Meredith Monk on the Brodsky Quartet’s recent CD Moodswings. The two solo albums Meet Me at Harold Moores and most recently Errollyn feature her songs in her own voice/piano performance and in collaboration with outstanding jazz artists. Her multi-media show Jordan Town, a modern day song cycle with dance and film, was a sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Festival. The Errollyn Wallen Songbook will be published by Peters Edition later this year.
Errollyn Wallen’s quality as a writer for the human voice becomes also apparent in her more classical vocal works: Are You Worried About the Rising Cost of Funerals is a song cycle for soprano and string quartet commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and her cycle The Queen and I for period instruments and voice uses baroque motifs and explores the idea of affects from a modern perspective. Fairy Scary comprises song settings of fairy stories for voice and small instrumental ensemble and was commssioned by Wigmore Hall. The Dunedin Consort commissioned and will world-première Comfort Me with Apples for Soloists and instrumental Ensemble with words from 'The Song of Songs' in September 2006.
The on-going operatic project Another America is an exploration into the black condition, past, present and future: The Royal Opera House and Nitro commissioned Another America: Earth, premièred the opera in November 2003 at the Linbury Theatre and revived the piece in 2005, including a BBC television broadcast. Another America: Fire was commissioned by Push and first seen at Sadler’s Wells in September 2004.
Errollyn Wallen’s forthcoming opera The Silent Twins about the love-hate relationship of two black twin girls has been commissioned by Almeida Opera for performance in July 2007. It is based on real live events as depicted in the book by Marjorie Wallace and will be composed on a libretto by acclaimed playwright April de Angelis. Other stage works include the ballet Horseplay which has been commissioned and choreographed by Tom Sapsford for the Royal Ballet.
When the Wet Wind Sings for 40 voices was premièred by the Tallis Scholars in 2003 alongside Spem in Alium, the work that inspired it. A maritime theme can also be found in Errollyn Wallen’s latest choral commission from BBC Radio 3, Our English Heart, a cantata to mark the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar Day and the death of Admiral Lord; the piece was first performed in Portsmouth Cathedral on 21 October 2005 by the joint forces of Catherine Bott (soprano), the male voices of the BBC Singers and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Stephen Cleobury.
The BBC has also been involved in the commission of some of Errollyn Wallen‘s orchestral works: Colin Currie premièred her Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra for the Young Musician of the Year Award in 1994. Spirit Symphony - Speed-Dating for Two Orchestras was first performed at the final event of the ‘Listen up!’ Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in November 2004 and won the 2005 British Composer Awards in the BBC Radio 3 Listeners Award category. The Philharmonia Orchestra will première a new orchestral work to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in Februray 2007 at Holy Trinity Church Clapham which is scheduled to aslo be heard in other cities around the UK that have a resonance or relationship with the Abolition of Slavery.
The Orchestra of the Swan commissioned Errollyn Wallen with Photography, a piece for string orchestra which was premièred in March 2006 and toured the UK widely. The Orchestra of the Swan continues its association with Errollyn Wallen, whose Composer in Association for the 2006-07 season she is, with the commissioning of a Cello Concerto to be world-premièred with Matt Sharp in May 2007.
Recent Chamber works include a quintet for flute and string quartet All the Blues I See premièred by Emily Beynon and the Brodsky Quartet, Romeo Turn for viola, cello and double bass, Dervish for cello and piano and a series of piano duets and piano solo pieces, Errollyn Wallen’s very own instrument. The Schubert Ensemble commissioned and will première Music for Tigers, a new Piano Quintet in October 2006.
Errollyn Wallen, singer composer, musician, renaissance woman of contemporary British music - The Observer.
Explosive stuff – The Independent.
Bright, funky, irreducible - What’s On (London).
A major new compositional voice – Gramophone.
She is a spectacular composer - International Record Review.
A vigorous and lively musical intellect - The Guardian.
Moments of rare beauty - The Times.
The most gifted in the crowd - The Independent.
Total brilliance - Melody Maker.
Expect the unexpected - The Observer.
If Wallen was to become a household name it could only be a good thing - The Independent on Sunday.
Web: http://www.errollynwallen.com/biog.htm