Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast

Maths prodigy and now composer. Alexey Shor is the composer in residence at the Malta International Festival. In this podcast he discusses why he writes and how he writes, and challenges a whole load of assumptions about the classical music world as he does so. Read the accompanying blog post on the Thoroughly Good Blog. 

Director of Music at St Johns College of Cambridge discusses his work at St Johns College Cambridge, the educational impact of Cambridge music making, and the choir's new release on Signum Records, Locus Iste. 

Jon Jacob speaks to composer Jonathan Dove at the Salisbury International Arts Festival about the compositional language he uses in some of his works. An album of orchestral music by Jonathan with the BBC Philharmonic and Timothy Redmond is available on Spotify. 

Podcast 40 features an interview with cellist Joy Lisney who appears at the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, on 8th June in a recital of Bach, Chopin and Brahms with her piano playing father James Lisney. More information on the [Southbank Centre website](https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/128978-joy-and-james-lisney-2019) or at [www.joylisney.com](http://www.joylisney.com). Music: Vriend's '[Anatomy of Passion](https://youtu.be/LDzdp6mc8Zc)' performed live in 2004.

Composer Paul Ben-Haim moved from Germany during the 1930s to escape the Nazi regime to settle in the British Mandate of Palestine. There he continued his work as a composer spanning musical styles - Western European classical music and Arabic classical music. Itamar's exploration of Ben-Haim's work is documented in an album recorded with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and is supported by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

Double bassist Leon Bosch discusses education, detail, knowledge and expertise. His South African Double Bass Concert with Rebeca Omordia is at the October Gallery, London on Thursday 2 May.

Adam Szabo from [Manchester Collective](https://manchestercollective.co.uk/) discusses alternative classical music experiences in this hour long discussion about audience development (fuelled by wine).

Jon Jacob visits PRS for Music for the Wild Plum Songbook Workshop recently held in London in collaboration with Wild Plum Arts and Cheltenham Music Festival. He speaks to composers workshopping their new works, and Wild Plum Arts Artistic Director and workshop mentor Lucy Schaufer. Composers in order of appearance in the podcast: Ella Jarman-Pinto, Kate Marlais, Rose Miranda Hall, Janet Oates, Lisa Robertson, Sarah Lianne Lewis.

Upon this Handful of Earth received its European premiere at the Church Music Festival in Oslo on Monday 24 March 2019\. Jon Jacob speaks to composer and librettists Gisle Kverndokk and Aksel-Otto Bull about the work, the issues it highlights, and the challenges in bringing the conversation about climate change to the operatic form.

James Macmillan and Tenebrae’s Nigel Short discuss the Holy Week Festival, faith and how it supports Macmillan’s work as a composer, and how Tenebrae chorus creates its distinctive sound. Including excerpts from Macmillan’s Seven Last Words (Naxos) and Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden (Signum). More information about the festival can be found at [sjss.org.uk](http://sjss.org.uk).

Podcast 32 spotlights a new release on Signum Classics entitled 'If'. It's the latest release by consort of viols Fretwork, and celebrates the 75th birthday of composer Michael Nyman pairing a collection of contemporary works arranged for the consort with music by Henry Purcell. The album is out on 22nd March 2019\. Pre-order here >>  [http://hyperurl.co/NymanPurcell](http://hyperurl.co/NymanPurcell)

Listen to exclusive demo material from British cellist Sophie Webber's Kickstarter-funded album 'Bach Cello Suites Unleashed' fusing solo cello with vocal accompaniment. Podcast recorded on Monday 11 March 2019\. To support Sophie's project visit Kickstarter and search 'Bach Cello Suites Unleashed' or visit [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sophiewebber/b2c-bach-cello-suites-to-choir](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sophiewebber/b2c-bach-cello-suites-to-choir)

All you really need to know about Podcast Number 30 is that it was recording on Wednesday 20 February 2019 at the Bussey Building - a former Victorian cricket bat factory saved from demolition ten years ago. It's home to a new opera - Robin Hood - premiered at the end of February, written by former Royal College of Music graduate Dani Howard, and performed by a small cast accompanied by the Aurora Orchestra. There is an infectious kind of energy to small scale fringe-infused endeavours like this. The excerpts you hear in between the interviews were recorded at the first play-through with orchestra - known in the trade as 'the sitzprobe'. Find out more at [https://theoperastory.com/](https://theoperastory.com/)

An extended interview with pianist Peter Donohoe features in episode number twenty nine of the Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast.  Peter and I sat down ostensibly to discuss his new release on the SOMM label - a collection of Mozart Piano Sonatas plus the Fantasia in D minor.  As with anything unplanned and unscripted our conversation took in a great many other subjects too, including interpretation, Richter, and Soviet Russia.  Musical excerpts included in this 1 hour episode recorded in January 2019 are drawn from the first volume released earlier this year.

A new opera - The Monstrous Child - by composer Gavin Higgins and author Francesca Simom about the teenage daughter of a Norse God who's search for her place in a mythical world opens at the Royal Opera House's Linbury Theatre on Thursday 21 Febraury. Jessica Cottis conducts the Aurora Orchestra. Jessica and I met in the Linbury Theatre during a break in rehearsals on Thursday 14 February. In addition to talking about the opera, we discussed the connection between science and the arts, orchestral scores, the thrill of being in the orchestra pit, and polyhedric structures.  For more information and ticket availability visit the [Royal Opera House website](https://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-monstrous-child-by-timothy-sheader).

Ian Page, conductor of the Mozartists and Classical Opera, whose twenty seven year plan to perform the music written by Mozart throughout his life, 250 years on is already underway. In this podcast Ian discusses the value of honest feedback from non-musicians, Sibelius, Wagner, Britten, and lipstick. 1769: A Year In Music is at Queen Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday 29 January, 7.30pm. More details on the Southbank [website](https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/120181-1769-year-music-2019). The Thoroughly Good Podcast is available on Spotify, iTunes and Audioboom.

Steve Long, Yehuda Shapiro and Jon Jacob discuss classical music streaming, independent record labels and the opportunity for data-driven marketing of core classical music.

A recent announcement from the BPI celebrated an increase in streaming of classical music. But the reporting on the story has highlighted the misrepresentation of the genre, something that inevitably presents an opportunity for a spot of pissing and moaning.

Violinist Jennifer Pike talks about her new album release dedicated to Polish violin music. The album is available on the Chandos label from Friday 4 January 2019\. For more information and a gallery of pictures, visit the [Thoroughly Good Blog](https://www.thoroughlygood.me/2019/01/02/thoroughly-good-podcast-24-violinist-jennifer-pike/).