Composers Richard Blackford and Gavin Higgins return to the Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast talking about the Three Choirs Festival where Higgins has just been announced new Associate Composer. Blackford's new work The Black Lake premiered there. Also featuring CEO David Francis. Music: organist Oliver Latry's Festival improvisation in Hereford Cathedral.
Hello Grab a pillow and lay down. Drift off. Allow yourself to dream. Such overt direction wouldn't normally feature in a Thoroughly Good Podcast introduction, but its fitting for this one with pianist Hanni Liang who, ever the experimenter with concert formats, tests out an element of her forthcoming Edinburgh Festival appearance on me in a bit of a podcast first. Liang combines a performance of Debussy Reverie with audience-led improvisation at The Hub as part of Edinburgh International Festiv...
Georgian pianist Mariam Batsashvili shares her journey from student to international artist. She reflects on her roots in Georgia’s rich musical culture, her transformative experience as a BBC New Generation Artist, and the thrill of returning to the Royal Albert Hall. Mariam discusses the emotional depth of Liszt’s music, recounts how reading Dante at 13 shaped her interpretation of his Fantasia quasi Sonata, and explores the spiritual dimension of performance
London chamber music venue Wigmore Hall stages something in the region of 600 events a year. That’s partly why its season brochure stretches to 206 pages — and that’s just for September to December 2025. A weighty piece of print that, for some (myself included), reads more like a guaranteed programme of discovery. An in depth syllabus. A prospectus. The new season sees the usual draw of international artists and homegrown talent: Christian Tetzlaff, Igor Levit, Les Arts Florissants, Dunedin Cons...
Four years after the premiere of ‘Woke’ at the BBC Proms in 2021, composer Daniel Kidane is riding high, this year Composer in Residence at the 2025 Aldeburgh Festival. Kidane reflects on his training, his mindset for composing, and what’s changed (or not) since the work that promoted empathy, compassion and togetherness. The BBC Symphony Orchestra performs Woke (now named Awake) at the Aldeburgh Festival alongside a whole host of other works by Kidane.
In this episode, Jon Jacob joins Britten Sinfonia and medical professionals at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge to explore how live music brings moments of connection and calm in clinical settings. Recorded during hospital visits, the conversation reveals how music supports recovery and emotional wellbeing in the most challenging of environments.
This episode spotlights contemporary classical composer Oliver Davis talking about his new album Life. Davis writes music that makes a montage of your own life. Had author Augesten Burroughs had access to Davis he'd have had access to soundtracks that would have consoled and celebrated the very life BUrroughs ended up documenting in Running with Scissors. Davis brings his experience writing music for TV to scores that elevate real life. His newest album is dedicated to his father, first violin i...
Bristol Beacon CEO Simon Wales reflects on leadership, legacy, and launching the 2025/26 orchestral season. We talk classical music, innovation, and why Bristol deserves its place as one of the UK’s great music cities.
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Britten Pears Arts, reflects on leading an organisation where legacy, place, and innovation intersect. We explore the 2025 Aldeburgh Festival, the return of Festival Extra, and how collaboration across the sector is vital to sustaining new artistic work.
Some people raise the bar just by walking into the room. Mezzo Soprano and Creative Consultant Jennifer Johnston is one of them. We talk about her award-winning creative work during the pandemic, her journey from barrister to singer, and her latest collaboration with the London Transport Museum — recorded at the Southbank Centre ahead of Mahler 8 with the LPO.
Following a stunning opening concert in Manchester Camerata's new Mozart series, horn player Martin Owen talks about Mozart's Horn Concertos, working with Camerata, and a 30-year career spanning many of the UK's leading orchestras. Owen is warm, playful and generous, and that is reflected in his captivating performance. His is an instantly likeable sound on stage, one that conveys an infectious sense of confidence in performance. Little wonder performance. He fell in love with the sound of the h...
Jan returns to the podcast after what we both reckon is probably around 12 years. He remains, as I dimly recall from a sunny day in Verbier, candid, down to earth, and completely and utterly absorbed by his craft. But what’s evident now — and what I definitely don’t remember sensing then — is his resolute vision: a clear sense of what he wants to do, and how he wants to do it. It’s reflected not only in his achievements, but also in the relative ease with which he articulates that vision. There’...
How successfully can AI underscore a day-to-day experience like grief? Or reading a book? Or even work as a coach? It turns out surprisingly well. Far better than the pearl-clutching naysayers. 11 minutes accompanied by Brahms. All very Thoroughly Good.
In this podcast Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor discusses his view on leadership, the role he plays as a leader conducting an orchestra, and how he's developed that role in the 30 plus years of his career to date.
30 minutes of chat with Manchester born soprano Ana Beard Fernandez ahead of her new album - Habanera including music by Villa Lobos, Ravel, de Falla, Shostakovich and Rameau on the SOMM label featuring the Endellion Cellists, Roderick Williams, and conductor William Vann. In addition ... because it worked so well in the last episode, a book, a film and a recipe.
Pianist Emmanuel Despax reflects on his deep connection to music, the emotional power of performance, and his upcoming concerts with the Bechstein Trio at Bechstein Hall in Spring 2025
This episode, the first of 2025, features vocal group Apollo5’s Director and mezzo soprano Clare Stewart director and mezzo-soprano of Apollo5 exploring the rich textures and emotional depth of the group’s latest album, Anam , set for release on the 24th of January, 2025. The collection of music on the album is a personal project of Clare’s celebrating the groups 15th birthday. It’s a celebration too of Celtic heritage— Anam , means 'the soul' in Gaelic — a collection that reflects as well as no...
Pianist Tim Horton is a busy chap. Always playing the piano and playing it a lot. Wigmore Hall, Sheffield Chamber Music Festival, Ensemble 360. All manner of places. So I consider it a considerable triumph that we arranged to meet in person a week or so ago to talk about his Wigmore Hall Chopin project -- there's a concert on December 11 and one in March 2025. Its not simply the programme that I was drawn to, but the way in which he suggests to audience members what they might listen out for in ...
Rob Plane introduces music that he's discovered and advocated, written by the disappointingly lesser known composer Pamela Harrison.
Continuing the theme of leadership in the arts, this Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast profiles the career todate of Kings Place Artistic Director Sam McShane. In the conversation that follows, you'll get a sense of Sam's distinct leadership philosophy, her vision for the venue including her aims to deepen engagement in Islington in which the venue resides. She also candidly discusses balancing financial challenges and artistic opportunities at King's Place.
What can corporate leaders learn from the conductor’s podium? What are the parallels between orchestral conducting and leadership in the workplace? New Principal Guest Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Chloé van Soeterstède shares her journey from violinist and viola player to conductor, sharing insights on how to build trust, communicate vision, and influence teams. Plus, she shares how she balances ambition with personal well-being.
Roxanna Panufnik wins Outstanding Wins Collection at the Ivors Classical 2024. In this episode she shares a personal selection of works plus a candid reflection on the experience of hearing the premiere of her Coronational Sactus at the King's Big Do last year.
This episode features violinist Madeleine Mitchell introducing the return of the Red Violin Festival in Leeds, her connection with Yehudi Menuhin, and the career-long fascination with composer Herbert Howells whose In Gloucestershire Quartet forms part of a new release of recordings on the SOMM label of rarely heard works by the English composer. The Red Violin Festival runs from 14th to 19th October 2014. Madeleine Mitchell and the London Chamber Ensemble's recordings of works by Howells and Ch...
This episode features three singers and one conductor who have either participated in or are currently part of the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Opera Programme. Their insights explore the unique experience of this two-year scheme, focusing on the development of rehearsal and stagecraft skills, as well as the journey toward building their authentic professional identities.
Toks Dada, Head of Classical Music at Southbank Centre, reflects on his four years running one of Europe's largest classical music series, drawing on his own lifelong vision. That vision balances continuity, tradition and innovation. The conversation touches on a shift in ticket buying post-pandemic and the opportunities this behavioural changes presents the classical music industry. It also suggests some of the ethical considerations wider classical music management need to grapple with when co...
Soprano Claire Booth discusses two new albums she's released in 2024 to mark 150th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg's birth.
Composer Adrian Sutton, the creative force behind the Olivier Award-winning scores for War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, speaks to Jon Jacob, reflecting on his diverse career, spanning from TV advertising to his celebrated work in theatre and concert music. As Sutton prepares for the October 2024 release of his latest album, featuring his Violin Concerto performed by Fenella Humphreys and the BBC Philharmonic, he shares the inspirations and challenges behind his co...
Recorded in Stoke on Trent where members of the NYO - the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain are rehearsing for their summer concert tour in which they perform music by Wagner, Mahler, and Missy Mazolli at Bridgewater Hall on 7 August, Saffron Hall in Cambridgeshire on 9th, and finally the BBC Proms on 10th August.
This Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast episode features Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu who, on the 16th August releases her recording of Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor (pared the Grieg Piano Concerto). She's also playing a major role in the Leeds International Piano Competition later this year giving the first Alexandra Dariescu Award for the outstanding performance of music by a female composer - Clara Schumann's concerto is one of the concerto that finalists can select f...
The Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast hears from mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron in this episode, previewing her appearance at the 2024 Ryedale Festival in particular her collaboration with dancer Suleiman Suleiman and musician Hibiki Ichikawa intertwining a Japanese Kabuki play with Schubert's iconic Winterreise song cycle. In this podcast Fleur talks about her international influences, illustrating what fuels her work - discovery - something closely aligned to Thoroughly Good's approach to cl...
