British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad talks to Alexandra Wood about her new dramatic song cycle, 'Scenes from the Wild', set to lyrics by musician and librettist Amanda Holden. They talk about how many books Cheryl and Amanda went through before settling on Dara McAnulty's 'Diary of a Young Naturalist' and how Cheryl decided to become a composer over a cellist.

'Scenes from the Wild' premieres on Thursday 25 November 2021 at Southwark Cathedral, with a further two performances on Saturday 27 November. The piece will be premiered by City of London Sinfonia, Geoffrey Paterson (conductor) and William Morgan (tenor), with direction from Sarah Dowling. https://bit.ly/clsat50Origin3

Alexandra Wood talks to South Korean composer Donghoon Shin about his creative process and inspiration for his new work, My Shadow, co-commissioned by CLS and the Heidelberger Frühling. Donghoon also talks about his love for Mahler, Elgar, jazz bands and Led Zeppelin.

The UK premiere of My Shadow will take place in our second Origin concert, Shifting sounds, at Southwark Cathedral on 4 November 2021.

Origin: Shifting Sounds: https://bit.ly/clsat50Origin2

Alexandra Wood talks to composer Huw Watkins about his new piece, 'Five Duos', written in celebration of our 50th anniversary. 'Five Duos' will be premiered by Alexandra Wood (violin) and Katherine 'Waffy' Spencer (clarinet) in our 'Origin' series opener on 27 October at Southwark Cathedral.

'Origin: An authentic voice', 27 October 2021: https://bit.ly/clsat50Origin1

In her last #Lockdownchats of the year, Alexandra Wood celebrates our RPS Awards win with the mastermind of our participation programme, Fiona Lambert (Director of Participation). They discuss our award-winning Sound Young Minds project and what's next, the importance of supporting and developing the skills of our musicians, and making art accessible to everybody.

RPS Impact Award: https://wp.me/p2PciD-20C

Room to Room Music: https://wp.me/p2PciD-1Zu

This conversation took place during the second lockdown in England, UK.

During lockdown two, Alexandra Wood caught up with our Principal Clarinet, Katherine Spencer, to see what she's been getting up to. Katherine ('Waffy') talks about the benefits of music and being part of our participation projects, working in care homes over the last few months, and our Restore and Revive programmes at Southwark Cathedral. And you'll want to stay tuned to hear what her ultimate costumes would be for different pieces of classical music!

In Lockdown Chats with Alexandra Wood, Gawain Hewitt talks about our Sound Young Minds project at Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School and our RPS Awards nomination, his joyous experiences at Headway East London, and the impact music has on mental health.

Video version on YouTube: youtu.be/Amtui8AMPy0

Brett Dean chats to Alexandra Wood about his love for the live aspect of music, whether composing, conducting or performing viola; about getting into composing, directing from the viola seat and transitioning from a performing musician to composer and creative musician.

Credit excerpts: 'The Lark Ascending' (Vaughan Williams), performed by Alexandra Wood in 'Comfortable Classical at Home' episode three on Facebook.

Alexandra Wood chats to Ann Lovatt (Violin) about combining live music and mindfulness in our Mindful Music sessions, how she got into practising mindfulness and how it's helped her during lockdown.

You can watch our Mindful Music sessions on Facebook (bit.ly/clsmindfulmusic) or on YouTube (bit.ly/clsMMytplay).

Credit excerpts: 'The Lark Ascending' (Vaughan Williams), performed by Alexandra Wood in 'Comfortable Classical at Home' episode three on Facebook.

Alexandra Wood talks to recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey in the sixth of our 'Lockdown chats'. They chat about our 'Absolute Bird' collaboration in 2019, all things recorder, the process of commissioning new compositions and the importance of arts and culture during lockdown and beyond.

Image: Genevieve Lacey by Heide Smith.

Credit excerpts: 'The Lark Ascending' (Vaughan Williams), performed by Alexandra Wood in 'Comfortable Classical at Home' episode three on Facebook.

In the fifth of our 'Lockdown chats', Ursula Leveaux (Principal Bassoon) chats to Alexandra Wood about making the most of the quiet Lake District during lockdown, how she got into playing the Baroque bassoon and her enjoyment of our project-based work.

You can watch Ursula's 'Comfortable Classical at Home' episodes in our Facebook video playlist: http://bit.ly/clsccahfb

Credit excerpts: 'The Lark Ascending' (Vaughan Williams), performed by Alexandra Wood in 'Comfortable Classical at Home' episode three on Facebook.