Composer Errollyn Wallen has had teachers tell her that classical music is “not her sort of music.” She pointed out to Gramophone in 2021 that “little was expected of her, but her career has been not so much about proving others wrong as a case of proving herself right.” She has done just that. She has composed for Queen Elizabeth, the 2012 London Paralympics — and her music has been to space. In 2006, Wallen inspired Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean to take some of her music with him on a space shuttle mission as he orbited the Earth 186 times.
Credits
Host: Venon Neal
Producer: Dan Nass
Writers: Andrea Blain and Scott Blankenship
Additional music selections: Jeffrey Yelverton
Executive Producer: Julie Amacher
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About Rhapsody in Black
Where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music, with host Vernon Neal.
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