Aaron is back already! And this time Verity is nowhere to be seen. That's right, it's Seb's first solo interview. Well, it's not an interview really, more a chat, digging further into many aspects of being a trumpet player. They discuss the following! How important is equipment? They chat about trying out trumpets, mouthpieces, becoming (or not becoming) obsessed with gear. Or maybe it's better to actually work on own playing instead of just buying a new trumpet. Do some hard work or just buy a ...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 28 min
Your eyes do not deceive you - it’s two episodes in two days! Fresh off of zencastr we wanted to whip out this chat with trumpeter Jack Jones as he has a HUGE gig this Friday (13 June ‘25) at EartH Hackney entitled The Listening Project Presents Acid Brass …if you haven’t got your ticket yet, what are you waiting for?! It’s going to be epic and we’ve stuck a link below so you can snap up the few remaining spots. We chatted to Jack all about the origins of Acid Brass - originally performed in the...
Jun 09, 2025•40 min
This week, Seb and Verity are joined by trumpet sensation Aaron Akugbo. From unwittingly making it to the finals of a trumpet competition to playing the Haydn Concerto from memory and then smashing out Jolivet’s Second Concerto with basically zero prep, Aaron embodies an entirely admirable cool, can do attitude! We also chat about: ✈️ Touring the US with Chineke! (hello, business class ) 🧠 Performing from memory and tactical programming to save the chops. 🥴 Time zones and why the International...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 6 min
An extra slice of Dame Sarah Connolly who graciously and patiently answered a few vaguely daft quickfire questions! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 22, 2025•13 min
Sound the klaxon - it’s a national treasure alert! This week we are honoured to be joined by internationally celebrated Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly. Dame Sarah has had an incredible career to date with standout performances including Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne , multiple roles at the Met , the Royal Opera House , La Scala , Paris Opera and, of course Admiral Nelson in full naval regalia at the Last Night of the Proms. Dame Sarah’s 24/25 season includes playing Auntie in WNO’s new produc...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Want a bit more James Flannery in yer life? Who wouldn’t we say! So here’s an extra serving where we discover who he’d choose as his ideal co-pilot and what went on when he toured with an ‘interesting’ artist…..Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 15, 2025•14 min
This week’s guest is Viola player, Negroni specialist and potential pilot of the future, James Flannery. You may well recognise James’ dulcet tones as he has previously guest hosted the podcast for an Ivor Novello Awards special. This was a baptism of fire due to some speed guerilla reporting and Verity’s technical inabilities. It felt only right that we get James back for a full episode to banish the memories of his chaotic first appearance and restore his faith in podcasting! We chat to James ...
May 12, 2025•44 min
It’s round two of our new feature where we throw extra questions at our poor, unsuspecting guests! This week it’s our guest from the main episode, cellist Stephanie Cummins sitting in the hot seat. If you would like to send over any questions for future guests either DM us on Instagram (@threeinabarpod) or email us at hello@threeinabar.com. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 06, 2025•14 min
In this week’s episode we chat to cellist Stephanie Cummins. Having spent many years working as a freelance cellist in New York Stephanie relocated to London and has since been working in the West End on shows including Aspects of Love and Hello Dolly as well as various solo and chamber projects. We spent a lovely morning with Stephanie discussing growing up in a musical family, highs and lows in her cello studies and how things don’t always work out the way we expect them to. Stephanie talks ab...
Apr 28, 2025•45 min
Road testing our ‘Petit Trois’ bonus feature is our guest from this week’s main episode, Ian Wilson. We throw some quick fire questions at Ian and he responds appropriately… If you would like to send over any questions for future guests either DM us on Instagram (@threeinabarpod) or email us at hello@threeinabar.com. Thanks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 24, 2025•17 min
We are joined for episode 132 by recorder player supremo Ian Wilson. Ian is the principal recorder professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Head of Woodwind at Eton College and is the visiting recorder specialist at the North East of Scotland Music School in his hometown of Aberdeen. We were so pleased Ian agreed to come back to chat to us again having originally joined us last April. Due to various Three In A Bar style holdups we never managed to release that episode so have ...
Apr 22, 2025•1 hr 8 min
What, another one?! Yep…it’s mid week bonus time! In the first of our new bonus episodes we are basically road testing quickfire/emergency questions on each other to see if this hastily planned format will work. Over the coming weeks the guests from our main podcast with feature in the bonus episode answering some intellectual and insightful questions such as ‘what is your karaoke song of choice’ and ‘what’s in yer bag’. Hard.Hitting.Journalism. Warning: there is some excruciating singing at the...
Apr 03, 2025•29 min
Our guest for episode 131 is composer, arranger and musical director Jordan Li-Smith. On a music theatre bingo card we are looking at an impressive full house for Jordan - as a child he performed in West End productions of Oliver and Les Miserables , He's MD'd a huge number of shows including an international tour of Titanic and he's written a couple of shows to boot! Oh, and the crowning glory...Jordan was a finalist on the Andrew Lloyd-Webber/BBC talent show, I'd Do Anything . What a blinkin' ...
Mar 31, 2025•1 hr 8 min
We’re back again with a string of great guests to get in yer lugholes! Kicking off this season it’s trombone titan, singing sensation and all round good egg Emma Bassett. Emma has performed and toured with a vast number of orchestras including LSO , LPO , RPO and Aurora . She can currently be found performing on MJ the Musical in the West End - in the depths of the theatre in a bijoux brass box! We were so delighted to finally get Emma round for a chat as she’s a joyous person with many a tale t...
Mar 24, 2025•1 hr 22 min
Hello dear listener! Welcome to our first episode of 2025, in which you find us having a much needed catch up in the foyer of the National Theatre. We really had not chatted for ages, so before we get going with interviews again, we had a lot to get through. And we basically covered every topic, from Verity's current job playing in Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 at the Donmar Warehouse, to Seb's Christmas gig with Rob Brydon, to New Year's resolutions, both of their marathon journey...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 33 min
Welcome to a special episode recorded guerilla style at the Ivors Classical Awards 2024! You may have heard our previous two pods with Ivors Special Award winners, Roxanna Panufnik and Gavin Bryars - this is a very different beast… Featuring special guest presenter James Flannery who steps into Seb’s shoes and makes his podcasting debut, this is a rampage around the BFI with odd snippets of chat and composers a plenty. You might catch journalist Stephen Pritchard, composers Duncan McLeod and Rox...
Nov 26, 2024•58 min
In the second of our Ivors classical awards special episodes we chat to world renowned and celebrated composer Roxanna Panufnik. As we air this interview, Roxanna has just been presented with the Ivors special award for ‘ outstanding works collection’ …And outstanding it truly is! She is particularly recognized for her choral works, including Faithful Journey - A Mass for Poland , Four Choral Seasons , and Coronation Sanctus for the coronation of King Charles the Third. Roxanna has a great passi...
Nov 14, 2024•58 min
In the first of two special episodes with esteemed and newly decorated composers, we sit down with Gavin Bryars, a composer who has led the way in innovation over a long and distinguished career. On Tuesday 12th November he received the Innovation Award in association with the Musicians Union at the Ivors Composers Awards, and we were lucky to get a chance to talk to him about this just a few days before. We discuss his early days of art college, double bass and free jazz, his early iconic piece...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Episode 126 features Senior technician at Yamaha Atelier Hamburg Thomas Lubitz. What Thomas doesn’t know about the trumpet isn’t worth knowing as we discover when Verity and Seb meet him at Legendary brass shop Phil Parker. Thomas talks through various models of trumpet and what they can bring to different musical settings and genres. They discuss changes that have occurred over the years and how small adaptations can make big differences. Seb offers up some modification ideas of his own…We aren...
Oct 28, 2024•1 hr 12 min
This week on TIAB we’re thrilled to have the multi-talented Steve Pretty join us for a chat that’s as eclectic as his musical life to date! Steve, the mastermind behind the Hackney Colliery Band , takes us on a whimsical ride through his creative world. From the bustling streets of Hackney to the intimate corners of his studio, he shares tales of setting up the band that’s been blowing audiences away with their infectious energy. Steve also dives into his adventures in podcasting, reflects on hi...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 46 min
Hello lovely listener, here we are again. We promised you an episode by the end of the week, and by jove, here it is. This episode we sit down with the brilliant Ellie Consta, violinist, composer, and founder of the groundbreaking Her Ensemble—the UK's first women and non-binary string orchestra. Ellie’s visionary work is pushing boundaries in classical music, aiming to reshape an industry that has historically lacked diversity and inclusivity. We dive into her journey, from her early days as a ...
Sep 29, 2024•1 hr 23 min
This week’s guest is virtuoso pianist, composer and improviser Arsha Kaviani. Arsha joined Seb and Verity for a chat ahead of the release of his debut studio album Accents and Echoes (see link below). He talks about the eclectic mix of influences featured on the album but also in shaping his musical life…we’re talking Bach to Massive Attack via Rachmaninov and Led Zeppelin. Conversation includes Arsha’s journey from growing up in Dubai to studying in Manchester and ending up in London. He talks ...
Sep 16, 2024•1 hr 13 min
This week, Seb and Verity are joined by composer, arranger, keyboard player with the Hoosiers , long time Bear’s Den collaborator and old mate Paul Frith. In true Three In A Bar style this episode is full of twists and turns - we find out whether Paul has ever been in a fight, how he came to write a symphony about Shackleton and some super niche mouthpiece chat. We also find out why Paul and his Hoosier band mates had to be speedily escorted from a gig venue somewhere in the north of England. Pa...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr 22 min
This week’s episode was a total pleasure to record as we are joined by Australian cellist, singer and songwriter Monique Clare. Monique is currently on a European tour and will be appearing at the Cambridge folk festival this month. Aside from festivals, she can frequently be found with her cello up mountains, on cliff tops and more conventionally in concert halls and jazz clubs across the world. Monique chats to Seb and Verity about some of her recent performances as well as recording her lates...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Here's a little catch up between your two co-hosts, as it had been a minute since they had last spoke. All a nice warm up really before tomorrow's blistering episode with Monique Clare. It's loose chat, in which they cover Verity's new show, Fiddler On The Roof at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, and Verity gives her frank opinions on every member of the band. Seb discusses his latest hyper-fixation, Nancy cuts a tooth, and Verity celebrates her first string arrangement being released on Christof...
Jul 21, 2024•42 min
This week we headed back online to chat to internationally acclaimed concert pianist and film star Clare Hammond (ok, ok, maybe it was one film but she was playing a young Dame Maggie Smith so come on!) We chatted to Clare ahead of her concerts at this year’s Cheltenham Festival - thanks to the wonderful Dan Hartland for setting up this conversation. Clare talks about the exciting programme for her solo concert, centering around a new commission by Sun Keting. She talks about the dos and don’ts ...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 1 min
We’re back!!! We’ve missed you all….but what a way to kick off this season of TIAB than with none other than Artistic director and founder of Classical Pride Uk Oliver Zeffman. Oliver is an internationally renowned conductor, working frequently with orchestras including the CBSO, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre national d'Île-de-France and Ulster Orchestra. Oliver founded Classical Pride in 2023 with an inaugural concert by the CBSO at the Barb...
Jul 01, 2024•51 min
More questions from you and answers from us. Could we live anywhere other than London? Do we own our instruments? And what have we each started deoing recently that has changed our lives? All this and more in today's episode. To send in your questions (about absolutely anything), then please email hello@threeinabar.com or hit us up on the socials. SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards. Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeina...
Apr 25, 2024•28 min
What is our least favourite orchestral instrument? And why is it the oboe? How do you plan anything as a freelancer? What happens if you book a holiday and then a load of nice work comes in - what do you do? Should you start a pension? Or just keep working until you die. All this and more in today's episode. To send in your questions (about absolutely anything), then please email hello@threeinabar.com or hit us up on the socials. SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON Join our Members’ Club for a bon...
Apr 16, 2024•31 min
Quiz question for you - what links Torchwood , Thunderbirds , Happy Valley & Mog ? We’ll tell you what…some seriously great scores courtesy of this week’s guest Ben Foster. Ben is a BAFTA winning composer, but also a well renowned and much in demand conductor, orchestrator and arranger with a string of TV and film credits to his name. We met up with Ben in his writing room, tucked away at the top of Air Studios for a chat about just a fraction of his incredible musical output. (N.B there is ...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 9
