Australian baritone James Clayton is a jack of all trades. He took time out from opera to drive a truck during the Covid pandemic. Luckily for opera lovers he's back singing, including performing the title role in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, with NZ Opera.

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New York pianist Kelly Moran sometimes performs on a "prepared" piano. That's when you put nuts and bolts on the strings to change the sound. She's no slouch with digital pianos either. Kelly spoke to us ahead of her tour of New Zealand.

Listen to Kelly's music and check out tour dates here

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Sensors that transform chemical changes in rotting fruit into sound and recordings of birdsong made with machines used in mineral prospecting are part of the latest exhibition at New Plymouth's Len Lye Centre. Anna Briers is the curator.

Read more about the exhibition here.

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In late 2024, the New Zealand music scene mourned the death of Hamilton composer Martin Lodge. Eighteen months later, his partner Dr Gail Pittaway talks about the tribute album, Aeon, featuring music by his composing friends.

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Li Wei Qin was born in China, grew up in Australia and now lives in Singapore. He took time out from a tour of Aotearoa to tell us how living in different cultures has broadened his approach to music making.

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Much of the music our orchestras play is by men, but that's changing - slowly. Yvonne New tells us about the balance of male verses female composers in the programming of two of our top orchestras, from 1980 to 2024.

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Electricity sparked up the career of the originally acoustic musician Jess Chambers. Now the Arts Foundation's provided her with a springboard to move into the musical world of TV and film.

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War is making a comeback, but Little Bushman guitarist Joe Callwood is taking a stand with his latest project, an online "politics free" musical collaboration dedicated to peace.

You can get on board Joe Callwood's Peace Ensemble here.

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Tane Upjohn-Beatson is a composer and arranger turning Shayne Carter's rock songs into orchestral masterpieces.

Shayne Carter plays Crystalator live at Wellington's Bodega Bar.

Listen to Tane's arrangement of Shayne Carter's Crystalator.

The NZSO plays Tane's arrangement of Waiting Game.

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Officially retired from teaching music at Otago University, Anthony Ritchie has no plans to stop writing it. Finishing his seventh symphony is one of his projects. He'll also have time to exercise his other great skill, playing croquet. Anthony's a former NZ representative.

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