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British composer and musician Errollyn Wallen was born in Belize on 10 April 1958. She moved with her family to London when she was a child. She trained as a dancer in New York City before turning to composition, studying at Goldsmiths, King's College London and King's College Cambridge.
Her first orchestral commission, a concerto for percussion and orchestra written for Colin Currie, was first performed in 1994 during the finals of the BBC Young Musician competition and later played at the 1988 BBC Proms - the first black female composer to have her music performed at that festival. She is also the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello Award for classical music, and from 2024, is the first black woman to be Master of the King's Music.
Other notable works include the ballet The Tempest, the opera The Silent Twins, Carbon 12 - A Choral Symohony (first performed by Welsh National Opera in 2008), Full Fathom Five (2014) for Melodia Women's Choir of New York City and Mighty River, marking the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in England.
Further information: errollynwallen.com
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