Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra to present world premiere of Errollyn Wallen's Violin Concerto

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra will present the world premiere of composer Errollyn Wallen's Violin Concerto Friday and Saturday at Jack Singer Hall. (Photo: CPO/AzzurraPrimavera)

Going to the symphony usually involves your ears travelling back in time, but this weekend, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is presenting a world premiere of Violin Concerto by acclaimed British composer Errollyn Wallen.

The premiere is part of a CPO musical double bill that also includes an old favourite – Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.

Wallen is an award-winning composer of 22 operas, in addition to numerous concertos, symphonies, chamber works and more. Her work is among the most-performed of living composers including at the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees and at the 2012 Paralympics.

She was also commissioned to create an orchestral work for the BBC Proms, the first time in the Prom’s history that a Black woman’s music was performed there.

In her autobiography Becoming a Composer excerpted in The Guardian, Wallen wrote about her incredible journey from a passionate music student at Goldsmiths to becoming a classical music composer who didn’t fit the profile very well.

“Nothing about me fitted the picture of a composer,” the Belize-born Wallen wrote. “I didn’t even fit the image to myself – I wasn’t white, male, dead, in a wig or on a wall."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Errollyn Wallen CBE (@errollyn9552)

“I applied to all the major composing courses, including Tanglewood, Banff and Dartington, and entered many competitions with no success.”

Instead of giving up, Wallen wrote that she had a vision of presenting contemporary classical music that was “fun and joyous.”

Wallen staged a concert at a venue on London’s South Bank in 1990, which included handing out mini-Mars Bar for every patron and a motto for her band that she included in press materials: ‘We don’t break down barriers in music … we don’t see any.’ 

That all fits into the vision and goals of the Calgary Philharmonic, said CPO musical director Rune Bergmann in a media release.

“The pieces that came together for this orchestra to be the one to give this premiere has been absolutely thrilling," Bergmann wrote. "There is no greater honour for musicians to be trusted with another artist's work like this — and especially so for one so brilliant and globally acclaimed as Errollyn Wallen.”

Wallen’s piece will be performed by acclaimed violinist Phillippe Quint, who is returning to perform with the CPO with the support of the Lacey Virtuoso Program.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Errollyn Wallen CBE (@errollyn9552)

Showtime Friday and Saturday is 7:30 p.m. at the Jack Singer Hall.

For more about the CPO, go here.