Wallen said that felt “very proud” to be appointed the first Master of the King’s Music and said she shared with the monarch “a desire to reach every part of the Commonwealth and to uphold their beliefs”.
She acknowledged that the King was a “deeply musical person” who probably knew more about certain genres than she did.
“I don’t know if he composes but I will be encouraging him to compose,” she added.
Wallen takes over from Judith Weir, who was appointed the Master of the Queen’s Music by Elizabeth II in 2014.
The King, a former cellist and a lifelong classical music fan, has often spoken about the joy he feels from incorporating specific pieces into the special occasions in his life.
He appointed Wallen following a recommendation from the Medal for Music committee, which nominates musicians for the monarch’s Medal for Music award.
The office was created during the reign of Charles I, when the Master served as the head of the sovereign’s band of musicians.
‘I was just this nerdy little silly thing’
Wallen admitted she was “completely shocked” when told of her appointment. She said her music teachers and old school friends would be “very proud”, adding: “I was just this nerdy little silly thing without not much confidence.”
The composer, pianist and singer-songwriter was born in Belize but relocated to Tottenham, north London, when she was two.
Her parents moved to New York when she was six or seven, leaving her and her two younger sisters, and later a younger brother, now jazz trumpeter Byron Wallen, to be raised by their aunt and uncle.
She studied music and composition at Goldsmiths, King’s College London and King’s College, Cambridge, before later settling in Scotland, where she has two homes – a lighthouse in Strathy and a house by the sea in Orkney.
In 1998, Wallen became the first black woman to have her work performed at the BBC Proms and in 2013, the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello Award for classical music.
She has composed music for the Cop26 summit and the 2012 Paralympic Games as well as Elizabeth II’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
Her work includes 22 operas and orchestral, chamber and vocal compositions. In 2023 she was ranked among the top 20 most-performed living classical composers.
Wallen was awarded an MBE in 2007 and a CBE in 2020 for services to music.
Her work for a string orchestra, Photography, was performed by the Honours of Scotland Ensemble at a service of thanksgiving for the King and Queen at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, last July.