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King Charles’s musical sage reflects on historic role T OLD she would never belong in the world of classical music, Errollyn Wallen has risen to become the composer to King Charles III and the o Errollyn Wallen on journey to being composer “I was always making up songs for any boring chore,” she recalled. Wallen credits a junior school teacher for setting her on her current path. “I was very lucky that at school, all of us nine-year-olds were taught to read and write music, but also introduced to orchestral music.” However, she received little encouragement to pursue a career as a composer. “I love my family, but I think there was the idea that you would not step out of the ordinary,” she explained.

first person of colour in the historic role. The 67-year-old became the Master of the King’s Music last year, a 400-year-old post and one of the classical world’s top honours that involves composing works for landmark events and advising the king on musical matters for royal occasions. “He is very musical, which everybody is really thrilled about. “He likes listening to music and he is curious about it – he has broad tastes, which is really wonderful,” said Wallen, who premiered her “funky” new composition Elements on the first night of the renowned Proms music festival in London last Friday. Charles showed a lighter side in March when he shared his favourite songs from around the Commonwealth in an Apple podcast, revealing a surprising appreciation of disco, reggae and Afrobeats and including hits from such artistes as Kylie Minogue and Diana Ross. In a sign of his musical conviction, Charles sought advice from Wallen – “but in the end, the king chose his own” songs, she said. “It was important for him to choose tracks that brought back personal memories to him and that is the power of music,” said the pianist, violinist and singer. “Think of the people he has met, all the great musicians. It is incredible,” added the self-confessed cake fanatic. Teacher inspiration Wallen was born in the former British colony of Belize in 1958, and soon showed signs of a precocious talent. “My parents said that as a baby, I did not cry, but I was always singing.” She moved to London aged two and her mother and father then relocated to New York, leaving her and her siblings, one of whom is the jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen, in the care of her aunt and uncle.

Another early memory is of a non-music teacher telling her “you know, little girl, classical music is not for you”. “These subtle messages going in that I might be good at music, but I would not belong to that world. But I was so curious and passionate about music... I think the negative messages did not go in deeply.” ‘So shocked’ Indeed, taking the road less travelled only strengthed her conviction and “led me into other paths of music-making which has stood me in great stead”. “I was a keyboard player and I played music in the community and care homes – it opened my eyes to how music can touch people.” It was at boarding school that the classical bug really took hold, and it was later nurtured at Goldsmiths,’ King’s College London and King’s College, Cambridge. Wallen also appeared as a backing artiste for the 1990s girl group Eternal and performed as a tap dancer, having trained as a dancer in London and New York. She had her own recording studio, and her work includes 22 operas and a range of orchestral, chamber and vocal compositions. Her arrangement of Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem was performed at the Last Night of the Proms in 2020, and she also composed a piece for the Paralympics Opening Ceremony in 2012. But she still admitted to being “so shocked” when the palace called last July, generating headlines about her being the first black woman to assume the role. “I had to remind the palace, I am the first black person, full stop. There has never been a person of colour in this role, since 1626.” Charles I created the role to take charge of his personal band, but today it mainly entails advising and composing. – AFP

DJ Martin Solveig bids adieu FRENCH DJ Martin Solveig, who hit worldwide success with smashes including All Stars and Hello , has hung up his decks, announcing his retirement onstage at a concert watched by 70,000 people. “It is a special moment. All my life, each time I came onstage I told myself: ‘Play like it is your last concert’. Just until that moment arrives,” the artiste told the crowd, which braved pounding rain at the Vielles Charrues festival in Carhaix, western France, to watch his final gig on Saturday, according to Le Telegramme . From the early 2000s, Solveig, together with fellow Gallic luminaries David Guetta and Bob Sinclar, brought the “French touch” sound to the world’s dancefloors, while he also produced songs for stars including Madonna. Now aged 48, Solveig – real name Martin Laurent Picande – released five albums throughout his more than two-decade-long career and played at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris along with 23 other DJs. Jerome Trehorel, the director of the festival where Solveig announced his retirement, said “it was a surprise when he told us several weeks ago that the Vielles Charrues would be his only concert date this year, and that it would be his last. It is an immense honour”. – AFP Solveig is known for hits such as All Stars and Hello . – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM @MARTINSOLVEIG

Wallen is the first black person to be Master of the King’s Music. – AFP PHOTO / LAURA EGUILIZ / OFFICE OF ERROLLYN WALLEN

Da-iCE confronts burden of putting up appearances in Nonfictions

LOOKING cool and composed but at the heart of it, a person may be feeling quite the opposite. That feeling is at the core of Da-iCE’s latest single Nonfictions , a sleek and emotionally charged track that questions what is real in a world built on appearances. Da-iCE is a five-member male artiste group known for its twin vocals spanning four octaves. The group consists of vocalists Yudai Ohno and Sota Hanamura, along with performers Taiki Kudo, Toru Iwaoka and Hayate Wada. Known for its dual-vocal dynamics, intricate choreography and genre-spanning sound, the five-member group dives into

deeper territory with this release. Nonfictions reflects on the emotional weight of projecting perfection – how people often hide their struggles behind carefully curated versions of themselves. Built around pulsing beats and layered vocals, the song unpacks the tension between how we feel and how we present ourselves to others. It is not about dramatic breakdowns, but the quiet moments of doubt and disconnection that come from trying too hard to appear fine. The music video further sharpens that narrative, using stylised visuals and choreography to mirror the inner conflict.

Da-iCE is a five-member male artiste group known for its twin vocals spanning four octaves.