Music Matters

Tom meets American pianist Stephen Kovacevich, who candidly discusses stage fright as well as the dark side of Chopin; he appraises the music of composer Howard Skempton with Esther Cavett, co-author and editor of a new book about him; and talks to conductor and composer Thomas Ades (pictured) about his new piano concerto, and his first foray into film music (the score for Colette, starring Keira Knightley). Plus,Tom visits London's only remaining Elizabethan church to catch a rehearsal of the Grandmothers Project, a community choral work by Esmeralda Conde Ruiz. Photo credit: Brian Voce

We hear about The Monstrous Child and Hel, the heroine of Gavin Higgins and Francesca Simon’s new opera. Pianists Peter Donohoe and Noriko Ogawa discuss and play mountains of the piano duo repertoire: Stravinsky, Rachmaninov & Debussy. Tom speaks to musicians who spend their evenings performing in concert halls, and their days walking in the mountains (conductor Garry Walker) stretching in hot yoga studios (violinist Elena Urioste), or running ultra-marathons (Leon Bosch) to discover the connection between music and sporting disciplines. Tom visits English composer Anthony Payne at home in London hearing about the catalyst that sparked his life in music, Elgar, and why we need more new music in our lives.

Young Czech conductor Jakub Hrusa talks to Tom Service about starting out, life at the helm of Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the special relationship he has with the music and musicians of the Czech Republic. Fifty years after it was written, composer Matthew Shlomowitz gets inside Luciano Berio's Sinfonia - a patchwork of borrowed musical fragments written for orchestra and amplified voices - and asks what it all means. For the latest in our Hidden Voices series, in which we shine a spotlight on musical figures from the past who we think should be better known, we explore the extraordinary life and work of Brazilian composer, conductor and pianist Chiquinha Gonzaga (pictured). She wrote over 2000 pieces including 77 operettas and a song that would become a classic in the carnivals of Brazil. Gabriella Di Laccio, soprano and founder of ‘Donne: Women in Music’, and pianist André Mehmari tell Gonzago's story.Plus, we find out about the hardest decision that some of the world’s finest musicians will ever make:

Professional bassoonist and professional boxer Hannah Rankin explains the connections between the two disciplines. Tom Service is in Dundee, exploring the town's musical heritage which ranges from the Scottish Ensemble and Simple Minds to the latest innovations in virtual reality and gaming. Kate Molleson reports from this month's Nordic Music Days festival in Helsinki, which has included the work of Scottish composers for the first time.Pictured is the new V&A Dundee (image © Hufton+Crow).

Marking the centenary of the Armistice, Tom Service talks to three composers writing music in response to war: Mira Calix on her sound installation at the Tower of London, 'Beyond the Deepening Shadows' featuring music for voices performed by Solomon's Knot; Dario Marianelli on 'The Unknown Soldier' at the Royal Ballet; and David Lang on ‘Memorial Ground’, originally written for the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in 2016. Tom travels to Paris and joins Jean Rondeau at the harpsichord to delve into the music of French composer Francois Couperin, 350 years after his birth, and talks to musicologist Theodora Psychoyou about the vast range and colour of his keyboard works. Composer, writer and singer Kerry Andrew discusses a new piece she's written for the Ligeti Quartet inspired by her experience with tinnitus and talks to clinical audiologist Rekesh Patel about living with the condition. And Santanu Das sheds light on the role of music in the Indian war experience as highlighted in his new book, 'India, E

Tom Service discusses Beethoven at the keyboard with pianist Angela Hewitt, who is currently touring Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. He also considers animal and human brain responses to music with Henkjan Honing (editor of a new book The Origins of Musicality) and with Felix Stroeckens (who has been putting crocodiles in an MRI scanner and playing Bach to them). He also investigates a new opera being toured round Scotland's whisky distilleries by NOISE, and meets Ewan Campbell to discuss musical maps in the context of radical scores from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Tom Service meets conductor Jonathan Nott to discuss his passion for music which began as a choral scholar in Worcester, the unanswerable questions that the masterpieces of Mahler and other composers pose as we move through life, and the new concert hall complex being built in Geneva for his Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.Hubert Parry: a major figure in British musical history: Tom travels to Oxford and London to discover two formative musical experiences which changed Parry's life. With Kate Kennedy he discovers what impact studying at Exeter College, Oxford made on his future career as a composer and educationalist, and at 12 Orme Square London, David Owen Norris explains how Wagner was an important stepping-stone in his musical development.Judith Chernaik's new book 'Schumann the Faces and the Masks' reveals new material on Robert and Clara's relationship. Who depended on who? And what couldn't Robert tell the love of his life?The Orpheus and Eurydice myth is re-told in Passion, the first UK production of

Tom Service travels to New York City to discover if Bernstein's musical and social legacy continues to echo through the streets of the Big Apple and the lives of New Yorkers. Visiting key places where Bernstein lived and worked, Tom meets the musicians, institutions and ensembles of today who are working towards goals Bernstein championed as a musician, communicator and humanitarian.Tom visits Jamie Bernstein at the flat where the Bernstein family archives resides, while at the archives of the New York Philharmonic, Tom finds a musical score which reveals a fascinating self-insight by the maestro himself, and with the orchestra's archivist Barbara Haws remembers her time working with Bernstein, how he changed orchestral relations, and how his conducting traditions are still in place today. Historian Julia Foulkes explains how resonances of West Side Story are found in the hit Broadway musicals of the 21st century, and with Deborah Borda, CEO of the New York Philharmonic and conductors Michael Tilson Thomas

Tom Service visits Chicago to talk to two major figures at the heart of the city's musical and cultural life: cellist Yo-Yo Ma and conductor Riccardo Muti.Whether as concert soloist, as founder of Silkroad Ensemble which explores musical traditions across the world, or through his collaborations with communities in Chicago, Yo-Yo Ma has consistently pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a musician, driven by his desire to explore the relationship between culture and the human experience. Although not a Chicagoan, Ma has had a big impact on the city through his performances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Riccardo Muti, and his work with the orchestra's outreach department, the Negaunee Music Institute. Riccardo Muti is famed as a conductor of Verdi and became Music Director at the orchestra in 2010 where he has continued his plight to engage people of all ages and from all backgrounds with classical music. Like Ma, Muti sees music as more than just entertainment - he is focused on making

Tom Service talks to Christopher Purves, one of the most theatrically and musically vivid bass-baritones on opera stages around the world. Christopher shares his love of Handel, his need to communicate to audiences, discusses how to connect with the darker characters of the repertoire, including The Protector, a role he created for George Benjamin's acclaimed opera, Written on Skin, and talks of his current project, Golaud in Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande.Michael Volpe from Opera Holland Park and Polly Graham, Artistic Director of Longborough Festival Opera join Tom in the studio, to discover if Summer Festival opera companies can advance the art-form, as well as serve the audiences who come for the experience, and Antony Feeny, economist and researcher discusses the business model of these festivals. Music and Maths - Tom explores the spaghetti-like interconnectedness of these two ancient disciplines with Eli Maor, whose new book 'Music By The Numbers' shows how musical ideas have inspired mathematicians ov

Tom Service meets American composer, and multi-media artist Laurie Anderson to find how music and language interacts in her work to create stories and define who we are which are just two of the themes running through her new book 'All the Things I Lost in the Flood', and her new album, 'Landfall', with the Kronos Quartet: projects born from her experiences of Hurricane Sandy which hit New York city in October 2012. Music writer and broadcaster Stephen Johnson discusses his new book 'How Shostakovich Changed my Mind' which explores his struggles with depression and how Shostakovich's tempestuous symphonies and soulful string quartets helped him and the composer's fellow Russians in the darkest of hours. There's a report from Moscow on the news that the British Council has to cease operations in Russia, and, Tom meets one of the most exciting young artists in New York today: Tyondai Braxton. In advance of the premiere of his new work 'Telekinesis', Tyondai shares his thoughts on electronic music, deep exposure

Tom Service meets Christophe Rousset, the inspirational harpsichordist and conductor, founder of the period instrument ensemble Les Talens Lyriques. We visit the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's 3rd Music Industry Careers Day to discover what young people want from a career in music today. We have an exclusive report on the state of music education in rural areas - the challenges and innovations, and we hear about the genre-breaking composer Julius Eastman, whose music is finally being published 28 years after his death.Image (c) Eric Larrayadieu.

In this week's Music Matters Tom Service visits Reykjavik to ask whether Iceland is the most musical country in the world?With a population of just 350,000 Iceland still boasts multi-million-selling pop acts like Sigur Ros and Bjork, a world class orchestra, Oscar-winning composers, countless music festivals as well as a vibrant and world renowned contemporary music scene.And all these different genres seem to intertwine with each other effortlessly - so Tom is in Reykjavik to discover what the country's musical secret is.He drops into the Dark Music Days festival, an annual festival of new music which takes place in the darkest period of winter, to ask composers and musicians why their new music scene is the envy of the world.One of their most successful artists is the award winning multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Olafur Arnalds. Olafur blends classical, pop and electonica and the result is sell-out tours - Tom meets him at his Reykjavik studio to find out how he defines his music and why he see

Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch In the wake of the political crisis that risks breaking up Spain and Catalonia, Sara asks Barcelona music journalist Andrea Romanos how important music is for the Catalans, and how have they've used it in the recent massive street demonstrations, whether in favour or against the region's independence.Sara talks to neuroscientist David Eagleman and composer Anthony Brandt, authors of 'The Runaway Species', a book about creativity in art, music and the brain. Also, what the internet tells us about our musical lives and how we 'consume' music today; Toner Quinn from 'The Journal of Music' reveals the latest findings. And an interview at the piano, including a Mozart improvisation, with the American jazz and classical pianist and composer, Uri Caine.

Tom speaks to Sir Andras Schiff, one of the world's greatest living pianists and also one of the most thoughtful talkers about music. From Hungary but emigrating to Britain as a refugee, he and Tom discuss the changing world and the role of musicians within it, how a concert is more essential than ever and why a whole evening of Brahms is a bad idea.The artist Tom Phillips is a true creative polymath - a painter, gallery curator, singer, quilter, opera composer, set designer and much more. His seminal 1969 opera Irma is all sourced from passages in 'A Humament' - his life's work - and is largely left to the performers to interpret it however they choose. He talks to Tom at his home in Peckham about how he wrote his 'chance opera' and how to decipher the clues found within the libretto. Plus Tom talks to the acclaimed opera director Netia Jones, who is about to stage it in Peckham, about how to start piecing together the puzzle of the opera.The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group are celebrating their 30th bir

Semyon Bychkov is sought after across the world as a conductor of all repertoire, but he has a particularly deep connection with the music of Tchaikovsky. He talks to Tom about the music of this oft-misunderstood composer as he continues his season-long Tchaikovsky project, and gives his opinions on the state of culture in Russia and the West today.Composer Brian Irvine discusses his music and community projects in Hull as part of the PRS Foundation New Music Biennial, and following the publication of a new book exploring connections between music and landscape architecture, Tom meets the author David Nicholas Buck together with the writer and performer Kate Romano to explore the areas where these two disciplines share common ground.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch meets two American singers - the opera icon Grace Bumbry and the broadway star Audra McDonald. Plus a conversation with the sound artist Bill Fontana in Snape, Suffolk, where he's created an installation modifying sounds from the reedbeds, marshes and the Maltings' industrial past, for this year's Aldeburgh Festival.Grace Bumbry's career was launched when she won a competition at the tender age of 17. She was sought after across Europe and the USA as a mezzo soprano and later a soprano. Now aged 80, still actively coaching young singers, she's one of the jurors for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2017. She talks about her life on stage and in the concert hall, and passes on the wisdom of her career.

Tom Service talks to the composer and conductor Thomas Adès and composer Gerald Barry about the 'explosive' music of Beethoven. Adès is embarking on a three-year concert project combining Gerald Barry's music with Beethoven's great works - and the two musicians chat with Tom about how the two composer's 'volcanic' music can shed light on each other.Tom celebrates the Beatles' seminal album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 50 years after its release. He looks at classical music's influence on the Beatles, and how, in turn, other music has been inspired. He talks to composer Nigel Osborne, who has orchestrated the album for a performance in Liverpool, and composer Kerry Andrew on its inspiration. Plus he hears from Erich Gruenberg - one of the original musicians on the album, and archive from Paul McCartney himself.A new opera by composer Guto Puw - Y Twr (The Tower) - is a rare occurence, an opera sung solely in the Welsh language. Tom talks to Guto about writing the piece and discusses the wider use of We

Monteverdi the radical: Sara Mohr-Pietsch marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of composer Claudio Monteverdi with an investigation into his life and music, exploring what made him a modernist and a radical in his day. Sara visits the three important cities in which he lived: Venice, Mantua and Cremona, to discover what shaped him as man and musician. She interviews performers Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Ottavio Dantone about their personal perspectives on Monteverdi, and academic Ellen Rosand discusses the latest research into his music.Venice: Justine Rapaccioli, Assistant Choral Director at San Marco talks about Monteverdi's prestigious role there, and Ellen Rosand discusses Monteverdi's style in his last operas and how that relates to his earlier music.Mantua: Sara visits the church of Santa Barbara at the Palazzo Ducale, where Monteverdi was employed by Vincenzo Gonzaga, and sees a fascinating document relating to the first performance of L'Orfeo.Cremona: Sara heads for the city of Monteverdi's birth

Tom Service meets the acclaimed violinist and conductor Nikolaj Znaider ahead of concerts involving both his violin and his baton with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and his Mozart project with the London Symphony Orchestra. Nikolaj talks to Tom about how to engage young audiences, how Colin Davis taught him everything he knew and, of course, why music matters.Up till now Philip Glass's masterpiece Music in 12 Parts has only been performed by the composer's own Philip Glass Ensemble - but Glass has now given his blessing for a new generation of players to take on the three-and-a-half-hour epic.Tom talks to organist James McVinnie and a specially formed ensemble including pianists Timo Andres, David Kaplan and Eliza McCarthy, gamba player Liam Byrne and soprano Josephine Stephenson about the piece. Plus he talks to original Glass Ensemble members Joan La Barbara and Michael Riesman about the original experience in the 1970s.Plus Tom celebrates the 70th birthday of the English composer, arranger and prod