Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Gwilym Simcock, LSO Percussion Ensemble
Biography Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Gwilym Simcock, LSO Percussion Ensemble
Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Some composers defy succinct definition, and shoehorning Ayanna Witter-Johnson into a tidy profile is no mean feat. Her music blurs boundaries between classical and alternative RnB – two genres that rarely coexist – and you are just as likely to find her singing while playing the cello, as you are to find her pouring over an orchestral score. This remarkable confluence of styles stems from a childhood that was saturated with music of every shape and colour. ‘My Dad and Uncle are DJs and my Mum loves to sing,’ says Ayanna, ‘so I embraced a pretty healthy diet of classical piano and cello studies while absorbing pop culture, soul, jazz, reggae, hip-hop and RnB music throughout my childhood and until now.’
Witter-Johnson was just three years old when her mother spotted an aptitude for music and took her to her first piano lesson, and she took up the cello as her second instrument (now very much her first) when she was 13. She went on to graduate with first-class degrees from both Trinity Laban and the Manhattan School of Music, and in 2009 was featured as an Emerging Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre. Since then, she has been commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet, Kronos Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, collaborated with Anoushka Shankar and Courtney Pine, and been nominated for a MOBO award. She cites Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder among her greatest influences as readily as she does JS Bach and Claude Debussy, and while many of her works chronicle her experience as a female artist in the 21st century, she is also no stranger to tackling issues of social oppression and globalisation. Her music is impossible to label (and why should we?) but its guiding principle is one of authenticity and personal truth.
Gwilym Simcock
has carved out a career as one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the European scene. Gwilym’s influences are wide ranging, from jazz legends to classical composers. Although principally a jazz artist, Gwilym has composed numerous works for larger Classical ensemble that combine through-composed elements with improvisation, creating a sound that is distinctive and very much his own.
Gwilym’s career is unique in spanning a huge range of musical settings. He has performed with orchestras, choirs, big bands, dancers as well as performing with musicians from diverse backgrounds including the classical, jazz, folk and rock traditions. Gwilym has also written music that has appeared on television and on stage.
Gwilym has led and recorded a variety of different projects. His debut album Perception was nominated for Best Album in the BBC Jazz Awards 2008 and has been critically acclaimed at home and abroad. Subsequent albums have been universally praised with reviews citing his work as 'sublime', 'flawless' and 'impressive'.
The LSO Percussion Ensemble (Neil Percy, David Jackson, Sam Walton, Jacob Brown, Gwilym Simcock)
comprises members of the London Symphony Orchestra’s percussion section as well as distinguished orchestral players with enviable reputations. If you are a classical music lover you will have heard the musicians of the Ensemble on countless LSO recordings, as well as in the concert hall. The Ensemble enjoys an international following and embarked on a tour of Japan in 2018.
Their highly successful recording of music by Steve Reich for LSO Live has become the best-selling physical product on the label in the US. Critics have been quick to praise this album with rave reviews.
If you are a film buff, you will have heard these same players on the soundtracks of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Braveheart, Notting Hill, The Shape of Water and hundreds more movies for which the LSO has provided the music.
The LSO Percussion Ensemble’s live performance of Music for Pieces of Wood has also been licensed for use in season eight of AMC’s Walking Dead. All this takes place within the context of performing numerous concerts a year at the Barbican as members of the London Symphony Orchestra, plus touring with the LSO around the world, with eminent conductors such as Sir Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra’s Music Director Sir Simon Rattle.
