Àánú Sodipe on balancing freelance musicianship with orchestral management and composition

Àánú Sodipe is not your ordinary violinist. Composing is her favourite occupation. Leading workshops and playing violin come close second. She works across a multitude of musical genres, including classical, jazz, soul, folk, and improv. Born in East London to Yorùbá parents, Àánú is proud of the way her heritage and its rich culture influences her music. She takes every opportunity for her works to be played or sung live by diverse ensembles – in 2025, her song “Àṣẹ” was performed live by the Citizens of the World Choir at the Greenwich International Festival, after which she performed her piece “Bebop Bach” with the Langham Big Band at the Big Church Festival. As a Young Associate for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2023, she planned and successfully executed a month long music writing project in a SEND school in Linwood, culminating in the making of two audio tracks. Her talents have taken her to play with Asake at the O2 Arena, Stormzy at the BRIT Awards, the Outlook Orchestra at Glastonbury, and the BBC Concert Orchestra during the BBC Proms.

Àánú completed the undergraduate degree in Music Performance at Trinity Laban, before graduating with a Master of Music in Classical Performance. She continues to find ways of incorporating her classical training and love for jazz and gospel with elements of Yorùbá culture in all aspects of her musicianship. “I’m living in two career worlds at the moment,” she says. “I’m working a 9-5 as the Orchestral Manager for All Souls Orchestra, and I’ve learnt lots about event planning, musician management, and organising finance and admin for my own personal music career through it. At the same time, I’m freelancing as a composer / violinist. I’m working closely with the Citizens of the World choir, composing for them and workshopping my songs with them. I’ve also worked with the Jazz artist Tina Carr, performing in her band during the London Jazz Festival and recording for her album. It’s challenging to balance everything, but I’m really proud of many things I’ve achieved over the past few years.”

During her time at Trinity Laban, Àánú was awarded the Prindl Prize for Most Innovative Professional Skills Project for her proposal to create Afro-classical music and establish an online presence for it. Across her freelance work, Àánú is driven to making and sharing music that speaks to the African diaspora and reflects how diverse classical music can be. She cites her favourite conservatoire project as composing and performing for the 2020 Black Culture 365 project. “I felt so alive composing for it and working together with the ensemble I was given,” she remembers. “It also marked the beginning of me taking composition seriously, even though I had studied classical performance, not composition. From that point onwards, I’ve been blending the two together.”

Reflecting on the advice she has for prospective students, Àánú explains that your years of study are the time you have to hone your skills. “Aim to be so good at your instrument or your study that you have the freedom to produce any sound that you dream of. At the same time, work smart. Be super aware and updated on what the music industry is looking like out there (it’s ever changing), and be realistic, taking steps to what you’ll want to be doing once you graduate.”