Composer Errollyn Wallen on her life as a 'musical explorer'

Errollyn Wallen describes herself as a musical explorer.

Born in Belize, but brought up in London, her career as a composer has taken her around the world but always brings her back to Scotland where for the past few years she’s had homes in Orkney and Sutherland.

The latter is a decommissioned lighthouse which she first discovered almost a decade ago.

“I stumbled across my home at the lighthouse but the moment I moved there, there was something different about the air, the people, the landscape.

"It totally revitalised my music and increased productivity, and then I found this beautiful home in Orkney which feels so fantastic and is perfect for making music and as I was buying it I was thinking I want to bring as much music into this house as possible and share that with others.”

Sharing music is something Errollyn has been passionate about since she started out. Before studying music, she trained as a dancer in the US, but returned to the UK to concentrate on composition, studying first in London and then Cambridge in the 1980s.

It was a challenging career path, especially for a young black woman but she refused to let it limit her music.

In the 1991 documentary, Half The Story, she is determined to make an opera about the Greek myth of Daedalus.

“Quite a few people including friends said why don’t you write about how hard it is being a woman, how hard it is being black? But I don’t want to be restricted. I want to write about the subjects I want to write about in my own way.”

Her first orchestral commission was a concerto for percussion and orchestra, written for the Scots musician Colin Currie and performed during the finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1994.

Daedalus was the name of the song from a 2012 album which served as the opening and closing themes of the BBC drama One Night. Another piece was used in the Paralympics Opening Ceremony in 2012.

Errollyn says she’s thrilled her work seems to connect with young audiences and those who are new to contemporary classical music.

“It was a hard road to become a professional composer but once my success happened, I noticed the strongest response was not the major institutions, it was music lovers, children, amateur groups, ensembles," she said.

"Music does connect and I’d like it to connect even more. There’s a lot composers can say about music which can demystify it.”

She’s a visiting professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where her advice to students would be to accept the ups and downs of the career of a composer.

“Make the best music you can , stay close to the music, learn from other composers, support a network of other musicians and try not to get too jaded and when things are not going your way.”

She’s had to heed her own advice in recent months when she admitted she’s received hundreds of abusive messages after creating a new version of Jerusalem for the slimmed down pandemic Proms in 2020.

She added a line to include the Commonwealth nations and dedicated it to the Windrush generation.

She said there was a particular climate which caused that outburst as there were easily a hundred arrangements of Jerusalem, adding that what we hear at the Proms has already been rearranged by Elgar.

"It’s not Parry’s original, and there’s no fuss about that," she said.

"Being born in Belize, a former British colony where we were brought up with these hymns, it would be strange to think, having lived here all my life that music wouldn’t be part of me.”

Earlier this year, Errollyn was appointed Master of the King’s Music by King Charles III.

She admits she has yet to have a private audience with the King about her role but has plenty of ideas.

“It’s a huge responsibility but I do feel it chimes with the things I’ve been thinking about all my life,” she says.

“I want everyone not just to have access to listen to music but to make music. I’ll be advocating for the birth right for every child to be able to read and write music, to make music, to perform music.”

She says she recently met with the poet laureate Simon Armitage, who says he doesn’t wait for state commissions but comes up with ideas of his own.

“I thought I’d do that too,” says Errolyn.

“Like a few weeks ago, I encouraged people to use the extra hour from the clocks changing to write a song. Little challenges as well as bigger works.”

The bigger works are still being commissioned. She’s currently working on a new piece about the nativity.

“I sit at the piano and I see Herod and I think here are the notes.”

“And that’s the same feeling I had as a six-year-old, from the imagination and the excitement of creating new work. I can’t explain the rest, other than to say I feel like a musical explorer, there’s always new things to find.”

'Exceptionally honoured'

And in that respect she follows in the footsteps of another composer who made his home in Orkney - Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He is also a fellow of the Ivor Novello academy, and Master of the Queen’s Music. Not to mention a champion of music education.

“I didn’t moved to Orkney to follow after him, but I can see why he loved Orkney so much and it’s an honour to be here,” Errollyn said.

“The moment I walked into this house, I noticed a photo of Peter Maxwell Davies and George MacKay Brown, taken in the garden by my pond.

"It’s fantastic that a contemporary composer had such an impact. He’s still very much loved and he’s talked about all the time. “

She’s been working with young people in Stromness Academy to create new work.

Like her induction into the Ivors Academy alongside John Adams, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Joan Armatrading, it’s another milestone on a road which she’s proud to explore.

“It’s a huge honour to receive this, especially considering my predecessors. It makes me reflect on all the help I’ve had getting here, all the people who encouraged and supported me.

“I didn’t set out to win awards and have this big career. It’s been enough to write music and have it performed but I feel exceptionally honoured.”