Down with the Patribachy

Surprise again!!! It’s a very special bonus episode of Down with the Patribachy, coming to you in celebration of the 76th Aldeburgh Festival, which kicks off TODAY 🤩🎉

While Ben is sadly absent (scheduling woes), Ellie is joined by Daniel Kidane — composer, educator, and this year’s Composer in Residence at the Aldeburgh Festival.

They chat all things composition, creativity, collaboration, and education — plus the magic of Aldeburgh itself, what it means to create new music in a festival steeped in history, and what Daniel’s most excited about sharing over the next two weeks.

It’s a gorgeous listen full of insight, humour, and musical inspiration — and just a taste of what’s in store at this year’s festival. If you’re in Suffolk or fancy a musical getaway, get yourself to Snape!!! More info and tickets here.

Huge thanks to Britten Pears Arts for partnering with us on this episode and letting us be part of the action.

More music, more history, and more fun at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk ✨

🎵 Listen on Spotify

Surprise! We’re back one more time with a fizzy little bonus episode to wrap up season three of Down with the Patribachy — and what a season it’s been.

We’re dishing on some of our favourite composers, reliving the fall-off-your-seat moments (yes, that includes Ben vamping through a storm), and reflecting on the chaos, the brilliance, and the musical mayhem we’ve conjured up along the way.

Ellie makes a shocking announcement — apparently she has a literal brother?? The fizz is flowing, Ben introduces a new sponsor in our final episode of the series (couldn't have thought of this earlier huh??), and we swipe left or right on season three as a whole.

It’s been wild, it’s been wonderful, and we’ve loved every second.

We literally could not have done any of this without our (Executive) Producer James Edgeler — he has tirelessly sat and edited for hours to turn incoherent waffle into fully formed sentences, to literally compose and sound-design a whole flock of jingles, and to make Ellie and Ben sound their very best. He’s been our rock this season, our third host (with a better grasp of sound levels and story arcs) and we’re more thankful to him than we’ll ever be able to say (without him having to edit it to make it make sense) xxx

And thank YOU for listening, laughing, and learning with us — and stay tuned for brand new and upcoming shows from Debut Podcasts. We’re just getting started.

See you very soon 👋
More music, more history, and more fun at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk

It’s the season finale (sort of — stay tuned for a bonus ep next week 👀), and we are giddy on gin and glowing with Agathe admiration.

This week, we’re talking about the extraordinary Agathe Backer Grøndahl — composer, pianist, and all-round icon. Ben is now a fully signed-up Patribachy Super Fan™. Ellie attempts a segue — we’ll let you be the judge of how that goes — and the whole episode has a real air of celebration.

That’s because this one is brought to you in collaboration with Faber Music Publishing 🎉 Faber invited us to the Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence (casual) for a lecture recital all about Agathe’s brilliant music, and we rejigged the whole schedule to bring you this very special episode.

It’s the end of the season — the gin is flowing, the vibes are high, and there’s a lot of love for the music of Agathe Backer Grøndahl. Come and see the season out with us 🥹🥂

Set the mood with these playlists:
🎵 Listen on Spotify
🎶 Listen on Apple Music

Interested in purchasing your own Backer Grøndahl scores? Thought you might be:

🧚 Faber Music

More music, more history, and more fun at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk

This week, we bring you an episode recorded across two continents, ten days apart, and in the middle of a storm.What could possibly go wrong?

Ellie is recording from Kenya, Ben is battling Storm Darragh, and the result is perhaps our most chaotic episode yet. But don’t worry — Ben’s exquisite vamping skills keep us (somewhat) on track while we repeatedly lose connection, then pick up perfectly where we left off (Ben was, of course, still at his desk waiting the entire time).

When we finally get there, we talk about Muriel Herbert — a brilliant composer whose music is so stunning that Roger Quilter should start looking nervous. We make our case for why she should be at the heart of every classical singer’s repertoire, and Ellie casually predicts her full engagement while she’s at it. Spoiler alert 🚨 she was right 🤭

It’s a mess, but it’s our mess, and we love it.

Get listening with this week's playlists:
🎵 Listen on Spotify
🎶 Listen on Apple Music

More music, more history, and A BLOG at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk!

This week, it’s finally happening... we’re talking about Amy Beach, and no one is happier about it than Ben. In fact, he might actually say she’s his favourite Patribachy composer (bold claim indeed).

But, in true Down with the Patribachy fashion, it takes us an embarrassingly long time to actually get there. Along the way, we get somewhat sidetracked by Virgo discourse, cultural appropriation in folk-inspired music, and wheth.

Also this week, Ellie may or may not say something so outrageous that Ben threatens to retire from the podcast entirely. Will he go through with it? No. But is it dramatic? Yes.

It’s chaotic, it’s unhinged, but it’s a great time, as always.

You can listen to some lovely music by Amy Beach below:

🎵 Listen on Spotify
🎶 Listen on Apple Music

🎟️ Get your ticket for EMPOWER 2025: London – an incredible evening celebrating women in music, featuring live performances and industry talks with legends like Errollyn Wallen CBE, Jess Gillam MBE, Héloïse Werner, and Dr. Leah Broad. It’s happening Friday, 21 March 2025 at King’s Place, London, and it’s completely unmissable.
👉 Tickets & more info at empowerwomenchangingmusic.com

And as always, visit us at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk for more, including our BRAND NEW BLOG!

We’re back with another week of Down with the Patribachy and this time, we’re talking about the brilliant DAME Judith Weir – the first female Master of the Queen's Music!

But, as always, we take a slightly scenic route to get there. In this episode, Ellie attempts to tell Judith's story in chronological order (spoiler: she fails), Ben contributes ✨very little✨ and GUYS we have our first ever (unofficial) sponsor!!! It’s unpaid, but that’s showbiz, baby.

It’s another chaotic, brilliant, joyful week at Down with the Patribachy.

Fancy listening to some of Dame Judith's bangers? Obvs:

🎵 Listen on Spotify

🎶 Listen on Apple Music

More music, info and our FIRST EVER DEBUT BLOG (written by B himself) at debutpodcasts.co.uk.

🎟️ Get your ticket for EMPOWER 2025: London – an incredible evening celebrating women in music, featuring live performances and industry talks with legends like Errollyn Wallen CBE, Jess Gillam MBE, Héloïse Werner, and Dr. Leah Broad. It’s happening Friday, 21 March 2025 at King’s Place, London, and it’s completely unmissable.
👉 Tickets & more info at empowerwomenchangingmusic.com

This week, we eventually get around to talking about William Grant Still – the legendary composer who blended African musical heritage with Western classical traditions to create something truly groundbreaking. But not before we take some serious detours.

Expect:
🎻 A deep dive into Still’s fusion of spirituals, jazz, and orchestral music
📚 Ben’s History Club (aka revision videos on YouTube)
⏳ Ellie’s ongoing war with chronological order
🗣️ An unexpected ASMR moment (?!?)
💧 A theory that there must be something in the water in Little Rock, Arkansas
🎭 And a bold claim about the future of Welsh musicals

The word of the week (more than ever) is "anyway", because honestly, we need it.

Set the mood with these playlists:

🎵 Listen on Spotify
🎶 Listen on Apple Music

More music, more history, and more fun at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk!

It’s our St David’s Day special 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (well, the day before – but close enough 💐), and we’re celebrating by diving into the life and music of Grace Williams – the trailblazing Welsh composer who fused national identity with European modernism. From stormy seas to nursery tunes, she created some of the most evocative music of the 20th century, all while battling the expectation that composing was a man’s job.

That is, of course, if we can ever actually get past the introduction… Expect many false starts, some truly cursed attempts at professionalism, and a deep dive into the magic of Grace’s music

Hear more below:

🎼 Listen on YouTube

🎵 Listen on Spotify

🎶 Listen on Apple Music

More music, more history, and a BRAND NEW BLOG (xxx) at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk!

This week, things are a little bit chaotic, but we’re shining a spotlight on Fanny Mendelssohn – a musical genius too often overshadowed by her famous brother, Felix (even though she wrote some of his best tunes 🙄). It’s time to give Fanny her due! We’re talking about her STUNNING compositions, the magic of Salon concerts (think candlelight, great music, and even better gossip), and why her work deserves to stand on its own.

Oh, and in groundbreaking news… we got our first ever sponsor! Finally, the corporate world has recognised our tireless work dismantling the patriarchy through niche classical music chat. Stay tuned for what is sure to be the most seamless and not-at-all ridiculous ad break in podcast history.

Set the mood with these playlists:

🎵 Listen on Spotify
🎶 Listen on Apple Music

More music, more history, and more fun at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk!

This week, Ellie and Ben are getting romantic and falling in love with the music of Harry Burleigh, a man who seamlessly blended African spirituals with Western classical music. Historically, Black and white musical traditions were kept apart, but Burleigh brought them together in a marriage fit for Valentine’s Day. From his stunning vocal works (some of which are very sexy — Feb 14th levels of sexy 😉🤭) to his lasting influence on classical music, we’re covering it all.

Oh, and speaking of romance… Ellie got engaged! Expect joyful chaos.

Get in the mood with these playlists:

🎵 Listen on Spotify

🎶 Listen on Apple Music

More music, more history, and more fun at www.debutpodcasts.co.uk!