Born in Belize, Errollyn Wallen moved to London, England, with her parents and siblings at the age of two. When her parents moved to New York, the children were raised by an aunt and uncle living in England. Growing up, she took lessons in dance, and her uncle sparked her interest in music through piano lessons. Following graduation from boarding school, Wallen spent about two years training at the Dance Theater of Harlem New York , but then returned to England, now thoroughly dedicated to music composition and performance.
Wallen now lives and composes in a lighthouse on the coast of Scotland. In her career as a composer, Wallen has received numerous commissions and honors. She is one of the top 20 most performed living composers of classical music in the world. A very versatile and productive composer, Wallen has written nine chamber operas and a variety of other vocal music, a large and varied repertoire of chamber music, and numerous orchestral works, notably her most recent: Concerto Grosso , premiered in by the Academy of St.
Martin in the Fields, John Butt, conducting. Philip Headlam conducted the premiere recording of Are You Worried. For that CD he also wrote the following insightful description of this song cycle:.
His early studies were there and in Madrid. He became a friend of Debussy and Ravel. His early career there included conducting for the Ballets Russes and at the Teatro Real. In the early months of , Turina visited Havana, Cuba, where he gave a series of lectures at the Hispanic Institute of Culture. Two years later he was made Professor of Composition at the Madrid Conservatory.
Turina was most prolific in the field of chamber music, which led to performances at the piano with the likes of Pablo Casals. Several of his chamber works are based on some model or idea. Las Muses de Andalucia is an example. Combining the idea of the nine Ancient Greek Muses with musical idioms from his native Andalucia, Turina was able to create a work containing a panoply of musical colors, musical effects, and unique forms. Las Muses de Andalucia was composed for one soprano voice, piano, and string quartet.
