a mic on the podium

Stephen Bell has been a friend for many years and always fun to chat with. I find out what we have to thank the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for, what method he uses to learn over 400 new works in a season and what his 6 year old daughter is better at than him! A really enjoyable chat with a lovely gent.

Kirill Karabits has been Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra since 2009 and loves them dearly. We discussed how important having the right agent at the beginning of your career is, what he learned from assisting Ivan Fischer and why conducting Beethoven Symphony No.5 is so bloody hard!

Nicholas Daniel can be described as a musical polymath - conductor, oboist, teacher, commissioner of new music and a lovely friend to have a chat with. We discussed (among many topics!) why conducting at Snape Maltings can be tough, why Shostakovich is great for youth orchestras and how Sir Simon Rattle and a gamelan are linked to performing Sibelius Symphony No.5!

What a charming person Jonathon Heyward is! We discussed the importance of the correct advice after winning a competition, what being a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic entails and how seeing a performance of Don Giovanni changed his career path forever!

I really enjoyed this chat as Ilan Volkov was fun, friendly and fascinating. We discussed what programming entails and how enjoyable it can be, what the demands of curating and producing your own festival are and we both agreed that performing Messiaen can be frightening!

Chatting with JoAnn Falletta was a real joy - very warm, friendly and open. We discussed how rewarding it can be working with amateur musicians, how inspirational Leonard Bernstein was as a teacher and how working in Hawaii introduced her to one of her favourite pastimes! 

Jiří Rožeň is a young Czech conductor who is a rising star in the music world. We chatted about his many years of study across Europe, what it was like to participate in a masterclass with Daniele Gatti and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and what it means to be a left-handed conductor! A charming young man to chat with.

Barry Wordsworth is such a gentleman and a real pleasure to chat with. We discussed the whole process of putting a new ballet together as a conductor, what great pieces of advice he got from Sir Adrian Boult and why living opposite a swimming pool was a stroke of luck!

Thierry Fischer was a late starter as a conductor but has more than made up for that. I found out how inspired by Harnoncourt he was, what lesson he learned when working with Martha Argerich and what piece of music made him lose sleep! A very warm and charming gentleman.

Mark Wigglesworth is a conductor who thinks hard about what he does, either as a conductor or as a writer. We discussed the subject of agents and managers, whether early teachers had a positive or negative influence and what orchestral musicians "expect" of conductors!