Jo Cheung is director and founder of Olympias Music Foundation, a Manchester charity championing diversity in music – from violin lessons for children on free-school meals, to community choirs for vulnerable BAME women and school children. Since 2015, they have delivered over 2000 free music lessons to 250 children in Manchester, and engaged with many more through workshops and performances. We chat how Olympias got here, where it’s going and stop off along the way at:

• The completely unregulated nature of teaching music
• Taking music education from school to the community and what that really means in practise
• Olympias’s huge Making Manchester project and their plans for the next year

https://www.joyeecheung.com/
https://www.olympiasmusicfoundation.com/

This episode is sponsored by Dorico: the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg.

• Educational & crossgrade versions available at significantly discounted prices.
• Get your 30-day free trial version of Dorico that will allow you to try out all of the features Dorico has to offer with no restrictions.

Links and Show Notes

• Slung Low Theatre Company
• Making Manchester
• Community Integration Awards
• Emma Doherty
• Hayley Suviste
• Cookbook!

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Raymond Yiu is a Hong-Kong born, London-based composer, jazz pianist, conductor and writer on music. Originally trained as an engineer, Yiu was self-taught as a composer until he undertook his DMus under the auspice of Julian Anderson at Guildhall in 2009. His debut album The World Was Once All Miracle showcases his talent with three identity-exploring works informed by his time at Guildhall.

• How to get your foot on the ladder as a self-trained composer
• Why he won’t be getting a publisher any time soon
• Why Raymond never wrote the Cantonese pop songs that inspired him so much

https://raymondyiu.com/

This episode is sponsored by Dorico: the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg.

• Educational & crossgrade versions available at significantly discounted prices.
• Get your 30-day free trial version of Dorico that will allow you to try out all of the features Dorico has to offer with no restrictions.

Links and Show Notes

• Raymond Yiu: The World Was Once All Miracle out now on CD (with great liner notes)

• Lontano ensemble directed by Odaline de la Martinez

• North West Wind recording
• Raymond with Odaline de la Martinez’
• Raymond with Lukas Foss
• No Dice’s latest spoken word gig
• Joe Hisaishi of Studio Ghibli scoring fame (I said his name wrong)
• Benetton’s ad with an image of David _Kirkby_

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Lara Agar is a composer, violinist, and collaborator who recently caught my eye with a credit on Shades of Blue, a dance piece performed at Sadler’s Wells and broadcast on the BBC. We talk about how the piece came about, curating nights, and the different relationship musicians, dancers, and actors have with their art. Also in the episode:

• The benefits of long-term creative partnerships
• Lara’s accidental rock opera
• Lara’s love of chaos
• Music’s uniquely non-visual role in today’s world

https://www.laraagar.com/

This episode is sponsored by Dorico: the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg.

• Educational & crossgrade versions available at significantly discounted prices.
• Get your 30-day free trial version of Dorico that will allow you to try out all of the features Dorico has to offer with no restrictions.

Links and Show Notes
Joe and Lara’s pretty faces
Rosalie Warner
Kantos – In The Field
EXAUDI vocal ensemble
SET

Music played in this episode
Shades of Blue (intro bed and breakbeat example)
Anima Rose
JABBERWOCKY - performed by EXAUDI (excerpt and in full at the end)
Accidental Rock Opera

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Aubrey and I geek out about marketing in the classical realm.

• Why classical’s core product will always be live music
• Why we shouldn’t be streaming whole concerts for free
• Plus Aubrey gives her advice on how new groups should approach finding and keeping new listeners, and how to get around the fear of the unknown with newly written music.

If you’re a musician or arts administrator of any kind, this is an essential listen. If you fall outside of that, enjoy looking behind the curtain at what an orchestra exec spends her time thinking about.

Some Aubrey bio fun facts: she grew Seattle Opera’s BRAVO! Club to the largest group for young patrons in the US, led the Bumbershoot Festival to achieve an unprecedented 43% increase in revenue, and propelled the California Symphony to double the size of its audience and nearly quadruple the donor base. 

https://www.aubreybergauer.com/ 

This episode is sponsored by Dorico: the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg.

• Educational & crossgrade versions available at significantly discounted prices.
• Get your 30-day free trial version of Dorico that will allow you to try out all of the features Dorico has to offer with no restrictions.

Links and Show Notes
💿 Get our CD Stillness with 25% off when you order before Christmas 💿

It’s a CELLO-BRATION! - California Symphony (Available till Dec 11 2020. Emphasis mine.)

The referenced LSO video. Click ‘show chat replay’ to see Maxine Kwok in action.

Jill Robinson at TRG

Aubrey’s excellent blog. This post is California Symphony’s ‘Public Commitment to Diversity’, which I love.

Geffen Playhouse’s Zoom play: The Present

San Francisco Symphony: Throughline (free!)

Live with Carnegie Hall: Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg (also free!)

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Ellie and I have a really open chat about our experiences with choral conducting and running a music group. Plenty of golden advice from Ellie, plus she explains why conductors shouldn’t silo into orchestral or choral, the weirdness of masterclasses, and creative administration.

Ellie is a conductor, and founder of Kantos Chamber Choir (who I sing with). She recently debuted with the Hallé and toured with Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet production as the Young Associate Conductor. She is musical director with the Hallé Youth Orchestra, Radius Opera, Stafford Choral Society; and associate conductor with Manchester Chamber Choir and Huddersfield Choral Society.

Ellie Slorach https://www.ellieslorach.co.uk/

This episode is sponsored by Dorico: the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg.

• Educational & crossgrade versions available at significantly discounted prices.
• Get your 30-day free trial version of Dorico that will allow you to try out all of the features Dorico has to offer with no restrictions.
  
  

Links and Show Notes
In The Field - Kantos Chamber Choir

Royal Opera House - Opportunities for Women Conductors

Jamulus

Ellie’s Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme masterclass with Marin Alsop

Ellie conducting the Hallé Youth Orchestra

National Theatre Live (online screenings have now finished)

Piece of the Month blog series - No Dice Collective

Music played in this episode
Robert Nathaniel Dett – O Holy Lord
Rory Wainwright Johnston – Ave Maria

Available to hear as part of Kantos’s In The Field project

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Shruthi Rajasekar is a composer from Minnesota USA who straddles the worlds of Western contemporary music and south Indian Carnatic music from a truly unique position. Having grown up in the US with prominent Carnatic musician Nirmala Rajasekar as a mother, Shruthi is a joy to talk with as we cover:

• Choral culture and education in the US vs UK
• How the pandemic is actually improving conversations around pieces in the rehearsal process
• Shruthi’s experience at SOAS and RNCM
• We also get super into the weeds discussing how despite its insane cross-rhythms, Carnatic music never changes time signature – plus how Shruthi breaks those rules in her piece, Numbers.

Shruthi Rajasekar https://www.shruthirajasekar.com/

This episode is sponsored by Dorico: the next-generation music notation software from Steinberg.

• Educational & crossgrade versions available at significantly discounted prices.
• Get your 30-day free trial version of Dorico that will allow you to try out all of the features Dorico has to offer with no restrictions.

Links and Show Notes
Many thanks to NMC for allowing Shruthi’s piece Numbers to be played in this podcast. Find out more about their great Young Composers Scheme album on their website or stream the piece.

Shruthi’s ‘German and Sanskrit’ piece, Devotee (played throughout)

Shruthi’s mum, Nirmala Rajasekar

Out of Context #1: Diversifying Programming with Integrity – Shruthi’s article for I Care If You Listen

B C Manjunath's Instagram:
“My mood for few days has simply been in Triplets, Sextuplets and Duodeciplets” 😅 Transcribed madness. 42:28s anyone?

Music played in this episode
Devotee
Numbers

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or Picking Weird Enough Instruments That People Can’t Look Away

Cello/singer–accordion duo Good Habits perform live for us all the way from New Zealand. We chat musical storytelling, capturing attention, and moulding a bar gig into a full blown concert by playing the room right. We also hear about their experience writing pop songs for a Chinese media company!

Good Habits https://www.facebook.com/goodhabitsband/

Links and Show Notes
Classical evolution

The Trouble Notes

The Unthanks

The Fitzgeralds - amazing!

Silkroad Ensemble

A great series on mixing basics by Dan Worrall for Fabfilter

Benjamin Marrington-Reeve

Hugh Morris

Bonus link: https://www.facebook.com/goodhabitsband/videos/841706926030804/
(for context https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klhfo6sB4N4)

Music played in this episode
Under My Nose (PODCAST EXCCCLLUSIVE)
Forget It (also EXCCLUSSSIVE)
Hitch

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⭐ Revolutionary alternatives to tokenistic diversity programmes
⭐ Deconstructing boundaries between jazz and classical and freeing yourself to make the music you want to make
⭐ Methods for sneaking improvisation in front of classical musicians without them freaking out

Vijay Iyer is an ECM-signed artist. He has worked with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, written violin concertos for Jennifer Koh, and music for the LA Phil New Music Group. He has been ‘Jazz Artist of the Year’ more times in more magazines than it is polite to count and it is my immense honour to welcome him to Classical Music Now.

If you want to access the work for yourself and check go to https://en.schott-music.com/shop/autoren/vijay-iyer

Links and Show Notes
MixTape by Vijay’s students

Wadada Leo Smith

Fluxus movement

Mutations – Vijay Iyer

Shepard tone demonstration Probably the most famous use of it in music

Time, Place, Action – Vijay Iyer (extracts)

Still Life With Commentator – Mike Ladd, Vijay Iyer

Vijay Iyer presents Ritual Ensemble at Wigmore Ensemble

Vijay’s conversation with Georgina Born

We didn’t really dig into Vijay’s views on genre and community, but they're really good so if you're interested you can hear him talking about it in an interview for the Ojai Music Festival, where he was musical director in 2017 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUtV9E5AB_I

Music played in this episode
Emergence – Vijay Iyer

Read Hugh’s article on Emergence that sparked this episode!

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Acknowledgements
Vijay Iyer EMERGENCE Published by Schott Music Corporation, New York NY

Emergence was commissioned by the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Poland which organizes Jazztopad Festival. It was premiered by the NFM Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra in April 2016.