All children should be taught musical instruments for free at school to widen access to classical music, according to the first Black woman to be appointed Master of the King’s Music.
The Belize-born composer, pianist and singer-songwriter Errollyn Wallen says she plans to use her new role to influence “the things I feel are important in music-making today,” in particular better music education for children.
“I’m a composer because at my school we were all taught to read and write music, it was a natural part of our daily life and that’s not the case now,” she says.
“Here music provision is very patchy, so it means people coming into the profession tend to be mostly from the middle class or people with access to greater funds. Music used to be free.”
She says that, in the past, peripatetic teachers had taught children instruments in schools free of charge, and there was more access to school and regional orchestras, representing “an introduction to and involvement in music that didn’t require a lot of money”. As a result of this shift: “We’ve lost so much talent.”
Masters of the king or queen’s music are called upon to compose pieces for special royal occasions, such as royal weddings, jubilees and coronations, but Wallen plans to use the role to champion causes that are “very dear to my heart”.
This includes developing a public understanding of composition and classical music, to challenge the misconception that it is “rarefied” and “this other specialised thing for a certain group of people”.
“I’m just almost amazed, even from within the industry, people think composers live on inspiration, but it’s a real craft which you learn,” she says. “I find it strange that you can speak to educated people about who writers and pop musicians are, but people wouldn’t know who composers are.”
Many people don’t realise that they “love classical music” and listen to it in everyday life, whether in a film score, an advert or playing through speakers in a lift, she says. “When you say ‘do you like classical music?’ a lot of people would be scared without realising it’s a part of their lives.”
The final strand to her mission is to promote cultural exchange with the Commonwealth countries, where she says there is a “wealth of talent” that could be tapped into through funded programmes. “It’s little understood that classical music flourished in the colonies,” she notes.
Wallen adds that she feels “very, very blessed” and “proud to receive this honour,” which is awarded to musicians who have added to the musical life of the nation. She feels it has arrived at a “very exciting time” with “such a musical king and a government that really wants to support music education”.
She will firm up her plans and her compositions in a forthcoming audience with the king, but adds that she “really love[s]” writing for special occasions. “The chance to do something in a live situation is thrilling to me.”
The accolade has come as a “huge surprise” to Wallen, who has composed pieces for the BBC Proms, the 2012 Paralympic Games and the jubilees of Elizabeth II, because despite such achievement her career has not always felt like “an easy road”.
“I’ve been guided by my love and instinct for music. I’m a very wide-ranging composer in that the struggles I had forced me to take different routes into music,” she says, citing Top of the Pops, stadiums, care homes, great concert halls and jazz clubs among the venues in which she has worked.
Although she thinks the UK has “some of the best musicians in the world”, Wallen worries about the lack of support for the industry, which has been ravaged by funding cuts to the arts.
“Brexit has had a huge impact on the amount orchestras can tour, but opera houses are closing, concerts, a lot of things are in trouble. I think for certain in the UK we punch way above our weight in terms of the talent we produce, but that talent does need encouragement for it to continue to thrive,” she said.
She hopes that becoming the first Black woman to hold the post will inspire others. “I would have been a composer whatever colour I was, for me as a little girl, I was drawn to music and that’s what I needed to do. But if along the way somebody sees me and says, ‘I can do that too’, that makes me very happy … Classical music is for everyone, from every walk of life.”
