14/01/2023

Ahead of his concert with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Tom Service travels to Poole to talk to the German virtuoso horn player Felix Klieser. Born without arms, Felix is celebrated for his wide range of expression and colours and has developed a unique technique to play the valves of his instrument with his left foot – something he explains can help expand the instrument's palette for both him and others. He tells Tom about the collaborative dialogue in which composers and performers engage, and how the relationship affects the way he performs material written especially for him.

Discrimination and harassment have increased significantly in the music industry, according to the latest report published by the Independent Society of Musicians. Tom hears from the ISM’s Chief Executive, Deborah Annetts, about these findings and hears testimonies from musicians who've been subject to harassment during their careers.

Music Matters joins the designer and video artist Netia Jones, and composer Brian Irvine, to hear about the UK performance of 'Least Like The Other: Searching for Rosemary Kennedy' which is staged this month in the Royal Opera House's Lindbury Theatre. Commissioned by Irish National Opera, the work received its premiere in 2019 and both Netia and Brian explain how the story behind John Fitzgerald Kennedy's sister, who was lobotomised in 1941 when she was a young woman, is a mirror to the way in which society treated women both at the time and still.

And, Tom speaks to the conductor and author Alice Farnham about as her new book, 'In Good Hands: the Making of a Modern Conductor'. They discuss what it means to be a conductor in modern times and Alice’s efforts to make the profession more open, gender-equal and diverse.