Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast

Hear participants Ryan Corbett, Milly Forrest, Mathias Balzart, David Zucchi and members of the Echea String Quartet, plus artistic director Geoff Parkin discuss the importance of the Royal Overseas League Music Competition.  The Gold Medal 2021 will be staged at the Royal Overseas League in London on Wednesday 24 November. Watch live on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpkkTQnwNHGi7Jj_SK6x20g. 

Theatre of Sound director Daisy Evans and conductor Stephen Higgins are currently mid-way through a run of a new of Bartók’s only opera Bluebeard's Castle. Their work reimagines the piece as a love story between a long-married couple – Duke Bluebeard and Judith – both coming to terms with living with dementia. The production is staged at Stone Nest – a stunning former Welsh chapel in the heart of London’s West End – and runs until 14 November with singers soprano Susan Bullock, bass-baritone Gerald Finley, baritone Michael Mayes and soprano Gweneth Ann Rand sharing the principal roles of Duke Bluebeard and Judith. Tickets via the Theatre of Sound website. 

Composer Electra Perivolaris talks about her collaboration with a Devonshire couple living with dementia, capturing their musical memories and reworking them in a brand new chamber opera, performed on Saturday 6 and 13 November 2021. Tickets via the Theatre of Sound website : https://www.tickettailor.com/events/theatreofsound/576577

English Concert artistic director Harry Bicket talks about Handel's Samson, the opera Alcina. Bicket also explains the three things others find annoying about him. Lateness is one of them. What are the other three?

Pianist Pavel Kolesnikov appears at The Two Moors Festival in October 2021 in a programme of Bach's Goldberg Variations. In this podcast he explores identity, the careers he might pursue if he had the time, and 'those shoes'.

Throughout 2020 and 2021 Help Musicians UK supported creatives impacted by COVID-19 to the tune of £18 million. In this podcast HMUK ambassador Nicky Spence and CEO James Ainscough explain how the 100 year old charity works, how its support has been invaluable, and how it will be vital in the years to come. 

The Jukebox Album is the soundtrack to the feeling that characterises this period in time we’re slowly coming out of, and perhaps a reminder that we should forget about either. A love letter from two musicians to their audience. A potent reminder of things previously taken for granted. A musical Ground Zero.     

Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage has written a Concertino for clarinettist John Carnac. It will be performed at Music@Malling in Kent in late September by clarinettist John Carnac. Jon Jacob spoke to composer and performer about the work at rehearsals in Birmingham. 

Ben Goldscheider appeared with members of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective at the recent Lammermuir Festival in East Lothian, Scotland. In this conversation he discusses horn player Dennis Brain, plus works by Oliver Knussen and Ruth Gipps. 

Grace Davidson and Christian Forshaw's new album Historical Fiction blends Baroque and Renaissance in a contemporary setting. Produced by Forshaw during the pandemic, it develops fragments of melody into a musical framework, creating a soundtrack for a royal occasion. The album is released on 17 September 2021. 

The London Festival of American Music runs from 13-18 September 2021 and this year features a ground-breaking opera exploring the personal stories of a trans character in 'As One'. In this podcast, a LFAM artistic director, conductor and producer Odaline De la Martinez introduces the festival and talks about how she came to discover the music of Dame Ethel Smyth. For more information and tickets visit https://www.lontano.co.uk/.

Gil Shaham is one of a handful of performers who can switch between the character in the music and the personality of the performer mid-performance. Nothing is compromised as was witnessed at the InClassica International Music Festival in Dubai 2021. How does he manage to look so bright and perky on stage? And does it stop when he walks off the stage? 

Live from London boasts a viewing audience in 75 countries, with an estimated global reach of 4.5million. The series has raised more than £1 million for artists and arts organisations around the world. The latest series includes performances of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, Chineke!, and VOCES8 amongst a great many others. It would be easy to tell that story starting with when the pandemic hit. But, like a lot of organisations who have created success when live music was impacted, Live from London's roots going further back. As you'll hear from brothers Barney and Paul Smith who run VOCES8 and set up Live from London. Five years of digital audience development is what was necessary, also building digital content where visiting artists are partners in a creative project rather than guests of an organisation. The distinction is important, as you'll hear. Discover more on the Live from London website. 

Joseph Phibbs arrangement of Benjamin Britten's first work Our Hunting Fathers features in Snape Malting's August season of concerts. In this podcast Phibbs talks about his work on the arrangement, and Phibbs' own clarinet concerto. A new cello sonata by Joseph Phibbs will be premiered by Tom Poster and Guy Johnston on 29 September at the Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival. 

Live Music Now is one of the UK’s biggest musical charities working specifically within the health and wellbeing arena, delivering inspirational musical moments. Jon Jacob visited the Priscilla Wakefield House in North London where folk singer Zoe Wren entertained dementia home residents one warm afternoon in late June 2021. 

Francisca Fullana's new album on Orchid Classics reflects the effervescent energy the violinist brings to his interview responses. Jon Jacob speaks to Francisco about 'Bach's Long Shadow' from his current home in California. Buy 'Bach's Long Shadow' via Presto Classical. https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8907184--bachs-long-shadow-the-chaconne-files

Ahead of her London Mozart Players performance of Glazunov and Nyman at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon (https://www.londonmozartplayers.com/whats-on/), the saxophonist shares her insights on the power of music, the way music changed her as a kid, and what it was like to discovered she was an MBE. More details on the Jess Gillam Ensemble tour of 'Time' on the Jess Gillam website. https://www.jessgillamsax.co.uk/shows/ 

Domestic travel, budget hotels, and sanitised breakfasts. Post-pandemic classical music premieres are the post-pandemic equivalent of international travel. Composer Dani Howard talks about her new concerto for trombone, what it feels like to have her picture in the PRS For Music reception, and how to keep a positive mindset. Hint: you'll need to exercise.