Summary: Ayanna is an English folk and soul singer, songwriter and cellist who has been nominated for a 2012 MOBO Award. A performer of extraordinary versatility, her live shows are intimate journeys that chronicle her experience as a woman in the 21st century. In 2011 Ayanna released ‘Truthfully’ – an EP produced by 4hero’s Marc Mac and 2013 will see the release of a full album of original work produced by Adem. She has worked with a plethora of UK and international artists including Kronos Quartet, Dutch trumpeter Diederik Rijpstra, Chinese folk artist Xiao Juen, Australian Indigenous musical force Black Arm Band, UK saxophonists Courtney Pine and Jason Yarde, guitarist Nitin Sawhney and singer-songwriters Gwyneth Herbert, Nick Mulvey and Boo Hewerdine. In 2011 she performed in Jazz Voice, the London Jazz Festival’s opening night gala, alongside Michelle Dockerty, Gregory Porter, Ian Shaw, Lucinda Belle, Shingai Shoniwa and the London Jazz Festival Orchestra conducted by Guy Barker. She has also played opposite sensational Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, Jack DeJohnette and Sibongile Khumalo’s project Intercontinental and the legendary South African trumpeter and activist Hugh Masekela. A recipient of many awards and prizes, Ayanna is the first non-American to win the legendary Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and is one of only a handful of people to win with an original composition. This year, she received a Musicians Benevolent Fund Special Commendation Award, is a PRSF Women Make Music Award and is also a featured composer on the London Symphony Orchestra’s Soundhub scheme 2012-13.
