Ayanna Witter-Johnson
@ the Queen Elizabeth Hall
21 November 2008

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Biography

Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a unique, captivating, talented, composer, song-writer, vocalist, cellist and pianist who has developed musically from a diverse background of mixed cultures.

Witter-Johnson began playing the piano at an early age, later taking up the cello during her teenage years and graduated with First Class Honours from Trinity College of Music studying Composition with Alwynne Pritchard and Classical Cello with David Kenedy at Trinity College of Music, London. She has studied with John A. Thomas, Errollyn Wallen MBE, Andrew Poppy, Arranging with Paul Bartholomew and Orchestration with Stephen Montague and Classical Cello with Sue Sutherley (LPO). She has worked with composer, arranger, producer, musical director and saxophonist Jason Yarde as a vocalist, cellist and pianist in his ‘B-Trade’ ensemble alongside Julian Siegel, Seb Rochford and Neil Charles, performing at Glasgow Jazz Festival and City of London Festival and as assistant orchestrator on the landmark Urban Classic project. More recently she worked with Jason Yarde on the arrangements for ‘Belief’ (a project featuring legendary South African trumpeter and vocalist Hugh Masekela) with the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 2007, Witter-Johnson became an emerging artist in residence (EAR) of the Southbank Centre. This project brought together a range of artists to participate in an intense collaborative process to produce original material for a performance at the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall.

Courtney Pine MBE invited Witter-Johnson to join his band ‘Afropeans’ as a vocalist and cellist for the recording of the live album “AFROPEANS” at the Barbican in 2007. As well as performing with Mr. Pine, she has also started working with jazz/folk star Gwyneth Herbert. Her radio credits include original material on Courtney Pine’s Jazz Crusade - BBC Radio 3, In Tune -BBC Radio 2 and the BBC Asian Network. Witter-Johnson was also invited to feature as a cellist and musical arranger for the BBC documentary ‘Little Angels’. Earlier this year she was commissioned by the Liverpool Lighthouse to compose a choral piece for young vocalists in the Merseyside area to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.