Belize-born Composer Becomes First Black Woman as Master of the King’s Music

Errollyn Wallen has made history by becoming the first Black woman appointed as Master of the King’s Music by King Charles. Born in Belize, Wallen is a celebrated composer, pianist, and singer-songwriter. Her impressive resume includes compositions for the BBC Proms, the 2012 Paralympic Games, and various jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II. She succeeds Dame Judith Weir, who was the first woman to hold this 10-year post, appointed by the late Queen.

Masters of the King’s Music are traditionally tasked with composing pieces for special royal occasions such as weddings, jubilees, and coronations. The title is given to musicians who have significantly contributed to the nation’s musical life. Wallen expressed her excitement about the appointment, stating, “I am thrilled to accept this royal appointment…I look forward to championing music and music-making for all.”

Wallen’s work is among the most performed of living composers, covering a wide range of genres with 22 operas, and numerous orchestral, chamber, and vocal compositions. In 1998, she became the first Black woman to have her work featured in the BBC Proms and was also the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello award for Classical Music.

During a recent interview on Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne, Wallen reflected on her career. “The calling to be a musician has been stronger than any other consideration,” she said. She also alluded to breaking stereotypes in the field of composition, noting, “If along the way I’ve helped to dispel the myth that a composer is only white and male, that can only be a good thing.”

Born in Belize in 1958, Wallen moved to the UK with her parents at the age of two. When her parents relocated to New York, Wallen stayed in North London with her aunt and uncle. From a young age, she showed an affinity for music, often singing in her cot as a baby and thoroughly enjoying her primary school music lessons. Her uncle even suggested she might become a composer after she mentioned having “a headful of sounds.”

Her father, who performed as a singer in Northern clubs, introduced a piano into their home, which Wallen quickly mastered. She remembers dreaming about the piano and finding it difficult to part from it. Wallen later pursued music education at Goldsmiths College, University of London, followed by a master’s in composition at King’s College, Cambridge. The piano continued to be central in her creative process, often starting compositions by improvising on the instrument. “I feel I’m an explorer,” she said.

After graduating, Wallen earned a living through various means including playing in care homes, being part of an alternative comedy act, and serving as a session musician for heavy metal, jazz, and reggae bands, even appearing on Top of the Pops. Despite these diverse experiences, she struggled to “break in” to the classical composition scene, a field predominantly occupied by white men. In response, she co-founded Women in Music in 1987 to address this imbalance.

Establishing herself in the 1990s, Wallen’s career breakthrough came with her Proms debut in 1998, performing her Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, a piece drawing from jazz and dance rhythms from Africa and Latin America. In 2020, she reworked Jerusalem for the Last Night of the Proms to highlight the Commonwealth’s connection to the song, dedicating it to the Windrush generation. Wallen shared that she was shocked by the negative backlash, stating, “I hadn’t realised there was a problem, that there’s certain sacred things that no Black person must touch.”

Other notable works include her 2009 opera YES, inspired by Bonnie Greer’s confrontation with a right-wing party leader on BBC’s Question Time, and compositions Principia and Spirit in Motion for the London 2012 Paralympic Games opening ceremony, inspired by the athletes.

Wallen was honored with an MBE in 2007 and a CBE in 2020. She currently lives and composes in a Scottish lighthouse.

Source: The Guardian