Wallen, Errollyn

versatile English composer and formidable pianist; b. Belize City, Belize, April 10, 1958. After studies at Goldsmiths' and King's College, London University, where she earned her master's degree, Wallen worked as a performer and composer in POP, JAZZ, and CLASSICAL settings. She also set up her own recording studio and wrote for film, television, and radio.

Wallen wrote and presented The Music Machine, a youth program for BBC Radio 3 series (April 1994), and also contributed to Backtracks, a series for London's Channel 4 about music composition for film. She formed Ensemble X, comprised of players from pop, jazz, and classical worlds, to perform her music.

Wallen's music has been recorded and broadcast throughout Europe, Africa, and Australia. She has worked with a variety of artists across genres, including Courtney Pine, Juliet Roberts, Peter Gabriel, and Claudia Brucken. Her output ranges from large orchestral works to choral compositions and string quartets, from ballets and operas to pop songs.

Wallen's compositions are remarkably eclectic and include In Our Lifetime (1992), a ballet in celebration of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, choreographed by Christopher Bruce for London's Contemporary Dance Theatre; Waiting, a ballet (1993); Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (1994, a BBC commission); LOOK! NO HANDS!, opera (1996), to a LIBRETTO by Cindy Owens, presented at the Nottingham Concert Series in a program devoted entirely to her work; Hunger (1997), a large-scale instrumental work; and Meet Me at Harold Moore's (1998), her first, impeccably produced, solo album.