“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

British cellist Guy Johnston has had an exciting and varied career since winning the BBC Young Musician competition in the year 2000. He has performed with many leading orchestras worldwide and collaborated with a host of illustrious conductors including the late Sir Andrew Davis, Sakari Oramo, and Yuri Simonov. A passionate chamber musician, Guy is the founding Artistic Director of the Hatfield House Music Festival, which takes place annually, and performs regularly at prestigious venues and festivals across Europe; he is also a prolific recording artist, with much of his discography championing contemporary British composers. Alongside his work as a performer, Guy is an inspiring teacher: he is a visiting Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music and recently moved back to the UK after six years at New York's Eastman School of Music as Associate Professor of Cello.

In this episode, we talk about nature versus nurture in the context of developing musicians, and how Guy has discovered certain parallels with teaching since becoming a father. He also reflects very honestly on his BBC Young Musician win aged just 18 (and the whirlwind aftermath) and tells the heartwarming story of taking his Tecchler cello on a journey from Cambridge to Rome.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 20 — Guy Johnston appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Hattie Butterworth is a journalist, cellist and founder of Things Musicians Don’t Talk About: a podcast, blog, and online platform born in 2020 out of Hattie’s own struggles with her mental health. Subsequently growing into a space that raises awareness for musicians’ health and well-being, TMDTA platforms very honest discussions about stigmatized topics including mental health, injuries, and discrimination in the industry. Hattie is also the editor of two magazines, Opera Now and Choir and Organ.

In this episode, Hattie spoke about performance anxiety, her complicated relationship with the cello, and her long-lasting struggles with OCD. She also talks about a piece she wrote for the Evening Standard on psychological abuse in conservatoires, burnout, and balancing being present in the everyday with the constant reflection on past experiences that her TMDTA work requires of her.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 19 — Hattie Butterworth appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

David Skudlik is the co-founder and CEO of digital agency Sforzato, a company that provides various digital marketing services to the classical music and wider performing arts sector. Their impressive client list to date has included the likes of Nicola Benedetti, Barbara Hannigan, Ray Chen, and Alice Sara Ott. David is also known for his weekly newsletter, David’s Dearest, a neatly curated pick of his own cultural recommendations.

Born into a musical family, David grew up playing the violin but later ended up following his entrepreneurial instincts instead. In this episode, David talks about setting up his company, then relaunching it one successful decade later; what he’s learned along the way in terms of managing people and making decisions; and the valuable friendships that have grown from initially professional relations. He also spoke about starting out with his first fashion accessory business at 17 and was very honest about how much he disliked practicing...

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 18 — David Skudlik appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Chris O'Reilly is the CEO of Presto Music, the UK's leading e-commerce site for classical and jazz recordings, sheet music, music books, and musical instruments. With a background in music and musicology, Chris has run Presto Music since 2001.

In this episode, he shared his observations on the changing tides of the classical recording industry, musings on where things might head in the future, and Presto's streaming service, launched in 2023, which pays musicians fairly. Chris also reflected on the time he wasn't accepted into any postgraduate conducting programs, his positive outlook on everything that has happened since then, and the importance of resilience.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 17 — Chris O’Reilly appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Florence Lockheart is the editor of Classical Music Magazine, the only magazine and website dedicated to the classical music industry in the UK. A Classics graduate from Durham University, Florence has always had a strong interest in classical music, which she nurtured over the years through both choral singing and training as a solo singer. Editor of the magazine since late 2021, her passion for both the artform and the industry is palpable, and she continues to develop CM's role as a trusted resource for the classical music world.

In this episode, Florence spoke about what her role as an editor entails, and shared some insightful tips on how to conduct an interview (duly noted by yours truly). She also spoke about the joy she found in working on a cover feature about Maestro, the 2023 Bernstein biopic, and having difficult conversations involving the breaking of bad news to fellow creatives during the pandemic.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 16 — Florence Lockheart appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Raffaello Morales is the founder and music director of the Fidelio Cafe in London, known and well-loved for their 'classical dinner-concert' series, comprising a one-hour concert by an established musician or ensemble, followed by a three-course menu specially curated for that evening's program. Within the wider Fidelio project, Raffaello also conducts the Fidelio Orchestra, run as a charity with the intent of providing a high-level orchestral experience for young musicians, with the likes of Angela Hewitt and Cedric Tiberghien on its roster of former collaborators.

In this episode, Raffaello talks about the role of the concert hall, and why he favors a less formal setting for live music; the adaptations the current classical music model might need to make to ride the waves of change; and the desire to bring classical music to as wide a public as possible without undervaluing the intimate live music experience.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 15 — Raffaello Morales appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is widely known as an authority figure in contemporary music and for shedding new light on past music. His international concert career has already spanned several decades, with an enormous discography to boot, all of which he has carried out alongside a dedicated commitment to teaching. In 1973, at the age of 16, he won first prize in the Messiaen Competition. Three years later, he was invited by Pierre Boulez to be the first solo pianist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. In addition to Boulez, he has collaborated very closely with leading composers like Kurtag, Birtwhistle, Ligeti, and Messiaen, having given countless world premieres throughout his career.

In this episode, Pierre-Laurent talks about his new recording of Schubert Ländler, what he learned from Ligeti and Messiaen, what we expect from performers as members of an audience, and why he’s not actually *that* taken with the piano world.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 14 — Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Alexandra Knight is the founder and CEO of classical music agency Knight Classical. After reading Music and then Law at Oxford University, Alexandra joined the artist management world, working first at Harrison Parrott, then at International Classical Artists - where she later became a Director at the age of 28 - before launching Knight Classical in January 2020. In her career so far, Alexandra has worked for renowned artists such as Janine Jansen, Neeme Järvi and Sir James Galway; built swiftly rising careers for artists including Alena Baeva and Joseph Bastian; and signed young prize-winning talents such as Anna Tsybuleva, amongst others.

In this episode, Alexandra talks about the role of an artist manager, and how the manager-artist partnership is much like a marriage; she reflects on the moment she realised she'd taken her first client from day one through to their debut with the New York Philharmonic; and she shares some thoughts on the psychological models that can often be found in high-level performers. She also talks very openly about dealing with imposter syndrome, and her experiences of sexism in the workplace.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 13 — Alexandra Knight appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Paul Wee is an internationally acclaimed pianist with a love for celebrating the hidden gems of the piano repertoire. His recordings for BIS have been met with great critical acclaim, including being shortlisted for multiple Gramophone Awards. Not your average pianist, Paul also happens to be a very successful barrister; he was called to the bar by Gray's Inn in 2010, and currently practises from Essex Court Chambers in London. Paul performs around his professional commitments as a barrister, both in London and internationally, and will be making his Wigmore Hall debut in June 2024.

In this episode, Paul discusses fitting the piano around life as a barrister, and his reasons for recording the repertoire he has so far. He also talks about wondering whether the success of his earlier recordings were due to the 'novelty' factors, and shares just how difficult it was to adjust to the sudden change of path from music to law.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 12 — Pianist and Barrister Paul Wee appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Timothy Ridout is one of today’s most sought-after violists, being a former BBC New Generation Artist, a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship recipient and winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award. As well as having performed with many major orchestras and conductors worldwide, Tim is a celebrated chamber musician, bringing programs regularly to the likes of Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He records regularly for Harmonia Mundi, and his recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto (as transcribed by Lionel Tertis) and the Bloch Suite for viola and orchestra - with Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra - won the Gramophone Concerto Award in 2023.

In this episode, Tim speaks about his formative experiences with the viola and how he stays on top of his game amidst a hectic performing/traveling schedule. He also spoke about his long-standing relationship with Walton's Viola Concerto and the journey to his Proms debut in 2021, plus a little insight into his methods for blowing off steam in the face of frustration…

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 11 — Violist Timothy Ridout appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Julian Lloyd Webber's musical life is remarkably varied. As a solo cellist, he has performed with many of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors, as well as every leading symphony and chamber orchestra in the UK. His discography includes his BRIT Award-winning Elgar Cello Concerto, conducted by Yehudi Menuhin, and ‘Variations’, a collaboration between him and his brother Andrew, which has sold over a million copies. Julian has premiered more than fifty works over his career and inspired composers such as Malcolm Arnold, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Eric Whitacre to write new music for the cello. He was also the London Underground’s first official busker, and he was also the only classical musician to perform at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.

Julian is a leading advocate for accessible music education, and has been throughout his whole career. Founded by Julian in 2007, the In Harmony programme has introduced the power of music to more than sixty thousand school children from the least privileged parts of England. He was also Principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for five years, a place at which he still holds the position of Emeritus Professor.

In this episode, we dig into the topic of music education, along with various issues the industry is facing at the moment. Julian also talks about working with Yehudi Menuhin, and the injury that forced him to retire from his cello career.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 10 — Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Recorder player and baroque violinist Yasaman Mashhouri was born in Tehran, Iran. Her musical education began at the age of ten with the Orff method, then subsequently taking her first violin lessons and teaching herself the recorder. After graduating with a biology degree from Tehran University, she decided to follow her heart and pursue her musical studies, moving first to Vienna to study recorder performance, and later to Germany. Yasaman is currently based in Switzerland, where she teaches in Schwyz and Ingenbohl.

In this episode, Yasaman spoke about the difficult decision to leave home and the non-musical path that was planned for her; her love of presenting music in new and modern ways; the importance of personal connection; and the upper age limit of many competitions overlooking those that began their musical careers later than most.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 9 — Recorder player and baroque violinist Yasaman Mashhouri appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Matthew Johnson is a London-based photographer, best known for his work in classical music and portraiture. Having originally trained as a cellist, his approach to his work is shaped by the knowledge and perspective gained from his musical experiences. His impressive client list includes Platoon, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian Embassy, and Britten-Pears Arts – as well as huge numbers of musicians, ensembles, festivals, and concert series. Outside the world of music, his vast portraiture portfolio is underpinned by themes of community and well-being, and his work has taken him all over Europe and the UK.

In this episode, Matthew talks about how his musical background helps him to photograph live music in a very human way, the parallels between being a musician and being a photographer, working with dyslexia, and how he bounced back after being told he would never be a professional cellist.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 8 — Photographer and Cellist Matthew Johnson appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

Hosted by founding Del Sol Quartet member Charlton Lee, the Sounds Current podcast is the quartet’s journey of highlighting San Francisco’s Angel Island, a site of detention for Chinese immigrants in the 1900s. 

Alongside special guests, the podcast will explore how compassionate art can enrich a community and lead to a more hopeful future. 

The San Francisco-based quartet’s Angel Island Project officially launched when they received one of the Hewlett Foundation’s 50 Arts Commissions alongside composer Huang Ruo, whose piece “Angel Island – Oratorio,” was premiered by the quartet in 2021, and ultimately inspired Sounds Current.

Ruo’s “Angel Island” draws on the time between 1910 and 1940, when new immigrants entered Angel Island’s immigration station. Chinese immigrants faced discrimination due to America’s earliest racist immigration legislation — the Chinese Exclusion Act, reads the press release.

Many of the immigrants were held at the detention center in brutal conditions and searched for solace by inscribing poetry onto the walls of the center — poems that “Angel Island” brought to life with music. 

Sounds Current traces the journey from Del Sol Quartet’s premiere performances on Angel Island in 2021 to its latest 2024 New York sold-out performances, produced by Beth Morrison Projects at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Del Sol comprises violinists Hyeyung Sol Yoon and Benjamin Kreith, violist Charlton Lee, and cellist Kathryn Bates. They first collaborated with Ruo in 2014 in tandem with a performance of Ruo’s opera Dr. Sun Yat-sen — the first major Western opera to be sung in Chinese.

Since its founding in 1992, the quartet has also commissioned hundreds of works by composers including Terry Riley, Tania León, Frederic Rzewski, Vijay Iyer, Mason Bates, Pamela Z, Chinary Ung, Chen Yi, Andy Akiho, Erberk Eryilmaz, Theresa Wong, and Reza Vali. 

On June 10, Lee and Sounds Current producer, Andrea Klunder from The Creative Impostor Studios, will preview the first episode before its release at the Tribeca Festival’s Official Selection Previews — the podcast is one of four to be nominated for the 2024 Tribeca Festival’s Independent Audio Nonfiction Award.

Bates, and violinists Benjamin Kreith and Hyeyung Sol Yoon serve as co-hosts of the podcast. Executive producers include Donald Fineberg and Andrea Fellows Finberg.

Sounds Current’s season one guests feature Huang Ruo, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s Executive Director Ed Tepporn, poet Genny Lim, Angel Island Descendant Andi Wong, and Angel Island State Park Interpreter Casey Dexter-Lee. More guests include Sid Chen, Emiko Ono, Susan Moffat, and Matthew Ozawa.

“We are a quartet that deeply cares about connecting with people through our music, making art that feels relevant to those around us,” said Bates in the press release. “We invite people in, to be part of the process, to dialogue –as individuals, artists, collaborators, thinkers, organizations, communities. It becomes all our artwork, not just mine or yours. The Angel Island community has been working tirelessly for 40+ years to bring this history to international attention. We are proud to add our music-making to this effort, letting it sing out more.”

“Sounds Current introduces the creative minds behind The Angel Island Project and invites listeners to explore what it means to create art that provokes awareness and builds community,” the press release adds. “Through intriguing conversations focused on the untold stories of the island, the quartet bridges a painful history and hopeful present, where community members are currently working to ensure these immigrants’ stories are not forgotten.”

To listen to the podcast, click here.

The post Del Sol Quartet Launches New Podcast, “Sounds Current” appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.

“Classical Circuit” is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We had a chance to talk to Ella about her inspiration behind creating this podcast in this exclusive interview.

Sumina Studer is a violinist, educator, and content creator who, having captured the hearts of audiences across multiple social platforms, is passionate about bringing classical music to younger generations. Having performed across the globe and won prizes in many international competitions, she now enjoys a varied career teaching, selling violins, making content and, more recently, giving lectures at music colleges on the topic of ‘Modern Communication and Social Media for Musicians in the 21st Century’. Sumina’s latest business venture, Animus, is a social media management/brand agency tailored to classical musicians, with the aim of helping them to build additional income streams separate from that of concert fees.

In this episode, Sumina shares her passion for education, the ways in which social media can be useful, and how she finds balance between making content out of her life whilst also living and being present in it. She also talks about the initial discomfort around deciding whether to let go of life as a performer, and the good that followed when she did.

The post Classical Circuit Podcast Episode 7 — Violinist Sumina Studer appeared first on World's Leading Classical Music Platform.