Errollyn Wallen CBE is a multi award-winning Belize-born British composer named as one of the world’s top twenty most performed living classical composers.
Biography
Her prolific output includes over twenty operas and a large catalogue of orchestral, chamber and vocal works, which are performed and broadcast throughout the world. She has composed for the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games 2012, for the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees, a specially commissioned song for COP 26, a re-imagining of Jerusalem for the Last Night of the Proms 2020. BBC Radio 3 featured her music for Composer of the Week, and she has made several radio documentaries. Errollyn collaborated with artist Sonia Boyce on her installation, Feeling Her Way,for the British Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, which won the Golden Lion prize. Her acclaimed opera, Dido’s Ghost waspremiered at the Barbican in 2021 and received its US première in San Francisco in November 2023. Recent premieres include a Wigmore Hall debut performance of songs from The Errollyn Wallen Songbook, a violin concerto for Philippe Quint, Dances for Orchestra for Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Irish Chamber Orchestra, Night Thoughts, a song cycle for Dame Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton and PARADE commissioned by Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
With Myleene Klass, Errollyn recently co-presented a three-part series, Musical Masterpieces, for SkyArts television.
Errollyn Wallen’s book, Becoming a Composer was published by Faber in November and will be translated into Spanish.
Errollyn Wallen’s recordings have travelled 7.84 million kilometers in space, completing 186 orbits around the Earth on NASA’s STS-115 mission.
Born in Belize, Errollyn gave up her training at the Dance Theater of Harlem, New York to study composition at the universities of London and Cambridge.
Errollyn’s song Daedalus appears alongside songs by Björk, Sting, Elvis Costello and Meredith Monk on the Brodsky Quartet’s recent CD, Moodswings. Her solo albums Meet Me at Harold Moores and more recently, Errollyn, feature her songs in her own voice/piano performance and in collaboration with outstanding jazz artists.
The Errollyn Wallen Songbook published by Peters Edition comprises twelve of her celebrated songs for voice with piano accompaniment.
Errollyn has composed numerous works for The Orchestra of the Swan, and in 2006 she was appointed Composer in Association.
Tom Walsh, b. 1991, graduated from the Royal Academy of Music’s Jazz Course in 2013, and since then has gone on to work with artists such as Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau & Randy Brecker. Tom has played with some of the premier large ensembles and orchestras in Europe, including WDR Big Band, BBC Big Band, Philharmonia Orchestra and the English National Ballet Orchestra. Alongside his role of Professor of Trumpet at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Trinity College of Music, he is an active session musician and arranger, having recorded on over 1000 tracks from his home studio.
Lucy is from a family of musicians in London and graduated from Cambridge University before finishing her violin studies at the Guildhall and Indiana University in USA.
Starting out, she worked for three years in Norway, performing up in the Arctic North as well as in the Norwegian Opera and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then Lucy has enjoyed a varied free-lance career and toured the world with many orchestras from home including The Philharmonia. Hungry for an eclectic musical diet, she has played in string quartets, in baroque/classical ensembles, jazz orchestras and even ran her own tango band for many years. Still busy performing, Lucy also teaches violin privately, coaches teenagers at National Chamber Music Course (www.ncmc.org.uk) and leads workshops for Apollo Music Projects, bringing live music into Primary Schools in Hackney.
As north Londoner she is a founding member of Highbury Opera Theatre, sings in her local choir and cycles long distances for relaxation.
Renowned as one of the top British jazz trumpet players both at home and on the international scene, Steve began his career while studying at Trinity College of Music, playing with the European Community Jazz Orchestra and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Since then, he has worked regularly on the British and European jazz scene with John Surman, Andy Sheppard, Tony Coe, Carla Bley, Don Weller and many others.
Cleveland was born in Hackney, East London to a Jamaican family. At age 16, he won twice in a local singing talent competition, hosted by “FatMan” of FatMan Sound System (North East London Based Roots, Reggae & Dub Sound System). Later he studied music at the London School of Singing and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama thereafter. He was taught by the most respected coaches in the industry.
He has worked closely and performed together with the diverse range of artists across the world, including Stevie Wonder, The Who, Richard Spaven Trio, Louis Moholo, Bobby McFerrin, Goldie, Björk, Talvin Singh, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Abdullah Ibrahim, Shabaka And The Ancestors, Nigel Kennedy, George Martin, Black Top, William Parker & Hamid Drake, Branford & Wynton Marsalis +JALC, London Community Gospel Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra and many others.
Biography
He’s an original founder member of the Jazz Warriors, and now Co-Director of Warriors International. Most recently, for his services to music Cleveland has been appointed an MBE.
He has also received multiple prestigious awards and nominations, including Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2017 (Winner), Best Jazz Act at the MOBO Awards 2017 (Nominee), Best Vocalist at the London Jazz Awards 2010 (Winner), and Best Vocalist at the Guardian Jazz Awards (Winner) for three consecutive years.
Steve Watts
Professorial Staff - Jazz Bass, Jazz Combos, Rhythm Section Coach
Steve Watts has been playing jazz on the British scene for over 25 years, during which time he has worked with many musicians of international stature, incuding: Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Julian Arguelles, Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzman, Jim Mullen, Joe Lovano, Kirk Lightsey, Richard Rodney Bennett and many more. He is a member of the influential Loose Tubes jazz orchestra and “The Printmakers “- a band featuring Norma Winstone, Nikki Iles and Mike Walker. He has made numerous broadcasts for radio and television and has recorded widely. Live work has taken him all over the world and his playing can be heard on the soundtracks of many films.
He is a committed educator and currently teaches at Trinity Laban and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has previously taught at the Royal Academy of Music and for the National Youth Jazz Collective as well as teaching and leading workshops in schools across the country.
Paul Michael Westwood
Professorial Staff - Jazz Electric Bass, Bass Guitar (BA Music Performance and Industry)
Paul joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra at 16, and studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with James Merritt (principal bass, London Philharmonic Orchestra), and at the Royal Academy of Music with John Dankworth and Graham Collier.
Biography
Lecturing and teaching
Paul’s teaching career includes:
London College of Music at the University of West London (2008 to date)
Jazz and Popular Music: bass guitar BMus (Hons), MMus Performance
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2002 to date)
Jazz: bass guitar BMus (Hons), MMus Performance
Morley College (1997 to date)
Bass guitar and Jazz workshops: beginners to advanced level.
Royal Academy of Music (1994-2007)
Jazz: bass guitar BMus (Hons) Performance.
Media & Applied Music: recording, composition & performance BMus.
Research projects
Elizabethan music: Experiments with early 17th century English melodies, melding with Turkish rhythm and harmony of the times.
Henry Purcell: Late 17th century songs and their influence on 20th century jazz and Motown.
Turkish music: The Maqam harmonic system and ethnic percussion influences on European music.
Moroccan and Andalusian music: A journey through regional variations of the music.
Sir Thomas Brown: The relevance of 17th century numerology, cosmology and alchemy in contemporary music.
John Coltrane: Spirituality, symbolism and structure used in 20th century ‘free-form’ jazz.
World Music: Contemporary developments in digital and analogue bass guitars and their use in performance.
Composition and Performance
Jazz
Paul Westwood’s Jazz FX.
Compositions for his own group include: Jaguarisms, The Earth Born, El Rif, Storm Watcher, The Art of Snake Charming, Arabethan Tales, The Garden of Cyrus, Musical Souls.
Performance
Commercial recording, composition and studio work (1978 to date)
Paul has composed, arranged and recorded 16 albums of media music, which have been used extensively by KPM Ltd, De Wolfe Ltd, ITV, BBC and Sky for signature tunes, incidental music and advertising jingles.
Albums
Paul has been a top London session musician, working on albums for many artists including Warren Bernhardt, David Bowie, Jose Carreras, Larry Coryell, Steve Gadd, Peter Green, Elton John, Nik Kershaw, Leiber & Stoller, Andrew Lloyd Webber, London Symphony Orchestra, Madonna, George Martin, George Michael, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Phil Ramone, Tim Rice, Cliff Richard, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Shadows, Wayne Shorter, Rod Stewart, Barbara Thompson and John Williams (gtr).
Film Soundtracks
He has performed on numerous film soundtracks for composers who include John Altman, John Barry, David Bowie, Carl Davis, George Fenton, Ron Goodwin, Trevor Jones, Peter Knight, Michel Le Grand, Henry Mancini, Paul McCartney, The Sex Pistols, Debbie Wiseman and Hans Zimmer. In 2018, Paul was bass guitar coach to actor Joe Mazzello, who played the part of John Deacon in the Academy Award-winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody.
Television Shows
Paul has performed on many TV shows with artists such as George Benson, Chuck Berry, Joe Cocker, Randy Crawford, Gloria Estefan, James Galway, Janet Jackson, Al Jarreau, Tom Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick and Barry White.
International Tours and Concerts
Paul has also toured in over 25 countries worldwide.
(Forthcoming publication Autumn 2020) ‘Bass and Korean Percussion Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany.
Bass guitar and percussion tuition book: Asian traditional percussion and its influences on contemporary western bass lines. Suitable for beginners to advanced level. Styles featured compliment rock, pop, funk, jazz and Latin music. Includes 3 CDs of examples of playing styles.
(Forthcoming publication Spring 2020) ‘Bass Bible 2’, AMA Verlag, Germany.
Bass guitar tuition book: a world history of traditional and contemporary bass lines. Suitable for beginners to advanced level. A sequel to the original Bass Bible, BB2 explores further examples of rock, pop, funk, jazz and world music. Includes 3 CDs of examples of playing styles.
‘A-Z of Bass Guitar’, Music Sales Ltd. 2011, ISBN 978-1-84938-865-8
Tuition and demonstration DVD of contemporary bass guitar styles and techniques.
‘Bass Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany, revised 3rd edition, 2011.
English, ISBN 3-927190-67-5; French, ISBN 3-932587-30-8; German, ISBN 3-927190-84-5; Japanese, ISBN 4-7549-3481-4; Chinese, ISRC CN-Q06-04-0031-0/A.G4.
‘Bass Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany, revised 2nd edition, 2004.
‘The Bassist’, Bass Player Magazine, 2002.
A series of magazine articles about the music business.
‘Bass Bible’, AMA Verlag, Germany, 1st edition, 1997.
Bass guitar tuition book: a world history of traditional and contemporary bass lines, featuring styles that include rock, pop, funk, jazz Latin and world music. Suitable for beginners to advanced level. Translations in English, French and German. Includes 2 CDs of examples of playing styles.
‘The Complete Bass Guitar Player’, Music Sales Ltd. 1991. Omnibus OV10267.
Tuition and demonstration video of contemporary bass guitar styles and techniques.
