The 21st century comes of age

As the second decade of this century draws to a close Tom Service talks to the composer Steve Reich at his upstate New York home about emotion in music, his love for J.S. Bach and the creative thought process as he writes a new work for the autumn of 2021. With 2020 and a big birthday for Ludwig van Beethoven around the corner, violinist James Ehnes speaks to Tom about how the music of Beethoven continues to surprise. And as we approach the third decade of the new millennium – our 21st century is fresh out of its painful adolescence – Tom hears from composer Gerald Barry, the Director of Music at London's Southbank Centre, Gillian Moore, the vocal and movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener, and the Creative Director of the Aurora Orchestra, Jane Mitchell, for their take on the creative classical music temperature of the third millennium – so far...