a mic on the podium

I have been wanting to chat with Sir Antonio Pappano since the podcast began and he was simply wonderful to interview! I discovered why passing his Grade 5 Piano exam was so important to him, we discuss his work for BBC TV and what that entails and I found out which work "finishes him" after every performance and he thinks that "Götterdämmerung is nothing in comparison"!

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

This interview was recorded on 19th February 2021 via Zoom.

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

This interview was recorded on 18th September 2020 via Zoom.

It was a real joy to sit and chat with one of the biggest names in the conducting world, Marin Alsop, for an hour. We discussed whether either of us actually liked learning the violin, why she once thought she should go into rock & roll, and I discovered she has a rather surprising choice of alternative career! A really special chat with a lovely person.

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

This interview was recorded on 21st January 2021 via Zoom.

After quite a few requests from listeners as to when I might interview myself, to celebrate the podcast reaching Episode 50, I asked CBSO Chorus Director, Simon Halsey, to interview me instead.

Simon and I discussed what it means to be "part of the CBSO furniture", I am frank and honest about some of my early conducting trips away from the UK and I tell the complete story about standing in for Andris Nelsons at very short notice and how that led to an extremely memorable concert with Jonas Kaufmann in Baden Baden!

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

This interview was recorded on 11th September 2020 via Zoom.

Osmo Vänskä has been at the top of the conducting world for nearly 40 years. I found out why the ensemble of an orchestra is so important for him, why his relationship with BIS has been so successful and fruitful, and we had a particularly funny Finnish moment. A lovely chat with a lovely man!

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

This interview was recorded on 4th July 2020 via Zoom.

Chatting with Chloé van Soeterstède was a real delight! I found out what it means to be the current Taki Concordia Alsop Fellow and how it all works, what language surprisingly she thinks she is "not good" at, and which composer's music might not be suitable to set a ballet to?!

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

This interview was recorded on 22nd December 2020 via Zoom.

In this special "bonus" episode, I tell you how the podcast was recorded, why the episodes appear in the order they do, and what you might expect in the future from the podcast. I also discuss how you can help the podcast in the future and how long you can expect to hear new episodes.

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

Chatting with Trevor Pinnock was both fascinating and fun and what a lovely person he is. I discovered some of his very interesting views on period performance and orchestral seating, what he learned by watching Leonard Bernstein teach at Tanglewood, and I found out how he got into trouble at school with Sir Mark Elder!

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated and help the podcast live on into the future.

Miguel Harth-Bedoya was a total joy to chat with! I discovered that he was given his job at the L.A.Philharmonic in a very surprising way, why it is so important to train the next generation of conductors in the correct way and why I should have been asking "Why?"!

If you would like to financially support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for just £10 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meeting with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated!

This was such a lovely chat and an interview I really enjoyed. Michael Francis and I chatted about our shared experiences as ex-professional players and what we have learned from them. I also learned about his incredible journey from the LSO to the podium, we agreed on which is the best of all sports and I found out that he used to have a rather surprising hairstyle!

If you would like to hear the Patreon exclusive mini-episode and support the podcast, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and for the price of a glass of wine once a month, you can access two new series of interviews, articles, and much more.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to make a one-off donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/a-mic-on-the-podium and any donation you make will be greatly appreciated!