Ayanna Witter-Johnson

Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a unique, captivating and talented young composer, song-writer, vocalist, cellist and pianist who has developed musically from a diverse background of mixed cultures. Her compositional versatility includes writing for symphony orchestra, chamber ensemble, big band, string quartet, choir, vocal quintet, brass quintet, saxophone quartet, solo voice, violin, cello and piano, songs, soundscapes and pieces for solo instrument and tape, across a range of styles including jazz, classical, contemporary, R&B, soul, reggae and electro-acoustic.

Ayanna began playing the piano at an early age, later taking up the ‘cello during her
teenage years and is currently 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 which brought together leading UK Grime artists and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Charles Hazlewood.  More recently she worked with Jason Yarde on the arrangements for Belief! – a project which featured legendary South African trumpeter and vocalist Hugh Masekela with the London Symphony Orchestra..

In 2007  Ayanna became an emerging artist in residence (EAR) of the Southbank Centre after being chosen (following a series of workshops) to be part of a project called Aftershock led by the ground-breaking composer and instrumentalist Nitin Sawhney. 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.  As well as Nitin Sawhney, Ayanna collaborated with Meg Hamilton (Kosmos Ensemble), Nathan Lee, Max Wright (Ojos de Brujo), Riz Ahmed and Natascha Eleonore during this unique experience.

Continually developing as a musician and composer of extraordinary versatility, Ayanna entered the City Showcase Competition and was chosen to perform with her band during the City Showcase Festival in June and has recently been invited by Courtney Pine OBE to join his band ‘Afropeans’ as a vocalist, cellist and featured artist. As a band leader and performer with other artists including Liam Noble, Nathaniel Facey (Empirical), Soundspecies UK, Zikalo, Sam Beste (Amy Winehouse), Dave Preston (Ian Shaw), Alex Douglas and Soul II Soul, she has performed at Glasgow Jazz Festival, the Hay Festival, Royal Festival Hall, City of London Festival, the Vortex, Ocean, Manchester Jazz Festival, the Jazz Café, the Nottingham Playhouse, and Mela Festival (Oslo) amongst numerous venues.  In addition to this, she recently performed as part of Courtney Pine’s AFROPEANS  band in a unique project this year.

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.  Ayanna was also invited to feature as a cellist and musical arranger for the BBC documentary Little Angels. Earlier this year Ayanna 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 and she has also been commissioned to compose the soundtrack for the feature length film Disoriented Generation.

Ayanna also has experience as a Compositional Workshop Leader, working alongside Jackie Walduck for the Creative Partnerships Scheme in asoociation with the ‘Raising the Roof’ programme for a school in the Borough of Lewisham.  This has led to managing the  project Sojourner Truth’s Story in connection with KORI Arts which lead to a performance at the National Portrait Gallery late last year. Ayanna is also a member of the National Youth Theatre and Youth Forum of the National Portrait Gallery.

PRESS QUOTES

“..one of our rising stars of the future.” Courtney Pine

“What a VOCALIST!”  Burnt Progress Records

“..great vocalist..” Financial Times

“The artist I am tipping for even bigger things in 2008 is the wonderful singer and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson.  She’s always impressed me as a composer, whether for her excellent seven piece band, or performing as a solo artist, but the past few months have seen her take things to another level.  Working alongside the likes of Jason Yarde and Courtney Pine her compositions have been performed by orchestras up and down the country, and being made an associate artist at the Southbank is yet another feather in her cap.  I look forward to seeing her build on this further in the year to come.”                                                                                                                         Will Gresford, The Vortex

“Ayanna Witter-Johnson…showed a tigerish confidence and a flexible jazz-R&B prowess on vocals.  We’ll be hearing a lot more from her that’s for sure.”  Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise

“With cello and piano at her disposal as well as a strong, vibrant flexible voice, Ayanna Witter-Johnson has a great deal going for her… She has talent in abundance plus an engaging stage manner, so shouldn’t have to struggle too hard to establish herself in a somewhat overcrowded scene.  Her original material is individual enough to be striking and her solo (cello-backed) visit to the..Police anthem ‘Roxanne’ hints at a refreshingly singular attitude to ‘covers’.
Chris Parker, Vortex Review

“There is much of beauty, especially in colour, texture (and) a certain spiritual quality throughout.”
 Dominic Murcott

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

www.myspace.com/ayannawitterjohnson

http://www.ear.typepad.com/blog/ayanna-witterjohnson.html