Errollyn Wallen has become the first person of color to hold the 400-year-old title of Master of the King's Music. She shares how resilience and curiosity helped her defy expectations in the classical world.
Told she would never belong in the world of classical music, Errollyn Wallen has risen to become the composer to King Charles III and the first person of color in the historic role.
The 67-year-old became the Master of the King's Music last year, a 400-year-old post and one of the classical world's top honors that involves composing works for landmark events and advising the king on musical matters for royal occasions.
"He's very musical, which everybody's really thrilled about," Wallen told AFP.
"He likes listening to music and he is curious about it — he has broad tastes, which is really wonderful," added Wallen, who premiered her "funky" new composition Elements at the first night of the renowned Proms music festival in London on Friday.
Charles showed a lighter side in March when he shared his favorite songs from around the Commonwealth in an Apple podcast, revealing a surprising appreciation of disco, reggae and Afrobeats and including hits from such artists as Kylie Minogue and Diana Ross.
In a sign of his musical conviction, Charles sought advice from Wallen — "but in the end the king chose his own" songs, she said.
"It was important for him to choose tracks that brought back personal memories to him and that's the power of music," said the pianist, violinist and singer.
"Think of the people he's met, all the great musicians. It's incredible," added the self-confessed cake fanatic.
Teacher Inspiration
Wallen was born in the former British colony of Belize in 1958, and soon showed signs of a precocious talent.
"My parents said that as a baby, I didn't cry, but I was always singing."
She moved to London aged two and her mother and father then relocated to New York, leaving her and her siblings, one of whom is the jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen, in the care of her aunt and uncle.
"I was always making up songs for any boring chore," she recalled.
Wallen credits a junior school teacher for setting her on her current path.
"I was very lucky that at school, all of us nine-year-olds were taught to read and write music, but also introduced to orchestral music."
However, she received little encouragement to pursue a career as a composer.
"I love my family, but I think there was the idea that you wouldn't step out of the ordinary," she explained.
Another early memory is of a non-music teacher telling her "you know, little girl, classical music isn't for you".
"These subtle messages going in that I might be good at music, but I wouldn't belong to that world.
"But I was so curious and passionate about music... I think the negative messages didn't go in deeply."
'So Shocked'
Indeed, taking the road less travelled only strengthened her conviction and "led me into other paths of music making which has stood me in great stead".
"I was a keyboard player and I played music in the community and care homes — it opened my eyes to how music can touch people."
It was at boarding school that the classical bug really took hold, and it was later nurtured at Goldsmiths', King's College London and King's College, Cambridge.
Wallen also appeared as a backing artist for the 1990s girl group Eternal and performed as a tap dancer, having trained as a dancer in London and New York.
She had her own recording studio, and her work includes 22 operas and a range of orchestral, chamber and vocal compositions.
Her arrangement of Hubert Parry's Jerusalem was performed at the Last Night of the Proms in 2020, and she also composed a piece for the Paralympics Opening Ceremony in 2012.
But she still admitted to being "so shocked" when the palace called last July, generating headlines about her being the first black woman to assume the role.
"I had to remind the palace, I'm the first black person, full stop. There's never been a person of colour in this role, since 1626."
Charles I created the role to take charge of his personal band, but today it mainly entails advising and composing.
"I wrote something for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey earlier in the year... and I did say to the palace my main objective is to be a kind of music ambassador," she said, adding that "children are my priority".
She aims to get for "children some of the things that so many of us had for free" when it comes to a musical education.
By James PHEBY / AFP
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