Errollyn Wallen

1958 -

About

Errollyn Wallen (b. 1958), born in Belize, she gave up her training at the Dance Theater of Harlem, New York to study composition at the 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 internationally. Errollyn Wallen’s song “Daedalus” appears alongside songs by Bjork, Sting, Elvis Costello and Meredith Monk on the Brodsky Quartet’s 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, published by Edition Peters, comprises twelve of her celebrated songs for voice with piano accompaniment. 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 recorded on her classical solo album “The Girl in My Alphabet” which received rave reviews at its release; “Fairy Scary” comprises song settings of fairy stories for voice and small instrumental ensemble and was commissioned by the Wigmore Hall; the Dunedin Consort commissioned and world-premiered “Comfort Me with Apples” for soloists and instrumental ensemble with words from “The Song of Songs” in September 2006. Errollyn Wallen’s opera The Silent Twins, about the love-hate relationship of black twin girls, was commissioned by Almeida Opera and first performed in July 2007. It is based on real life events as depicted in the book by Marjorie Wallace and was composed on a libretto by the acclaimed playwright April de Angelis. Other stage works include the ballet Horseplay which was commissioned and choreographed by Tom Sapsford for the Royal Ballet. Horseplay is also used in a new ballet, Tempest choreographed by James Bailey which was first performed by Leipzig Ballet in April 2007; for this occasion Leipzig Ballet commissioned a one orchestra version of “Spirit Symphony” to form part of the music for this dance piece. Errollyn Wallen and Scanner were the composers for the score of choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh’s Faultline which has been touring internationally since its premiere and is on the GCSE Dance syllabus. Her film Falling (made with Dan Farberoff ) was broadcast on Australian ABC television and Channel 4 in 2009. Her hit opera for children, Cautionary Tales was commissioned by Opera North for 2011, touring in 2012. YES was the groundbreaking opera commissioned by the Royal Opera House in 2011 with a libretto by Bonnie Greer. Her original music for the 2012 BBC drama “One Night” won the 2013 FIPA d’Or for Best Original Music in a Television Series. Her works “Principia” and “Spirit in Motion” were commissioned for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games and their premiere was watched by a capacity audience of 80,000 people and broadcast to a billion people around the world. Current projects include a collaboration with David Pountney and a new work for Welsh National Opera to be premiered in 2014.

Related Information

http://www.errollynwallen.com/biography

Works by Errollyn Wallen