In the final episode of 2021, Tom Service meets mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and composer and pianist Jake Heggie whose album ‘Unexpected Shadows’ has been nominated for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album in the 2022 Grammy Awards. Jamie recently sang in Atlanta Opera’s production of Jake’s first major opera, Dead Man Walking, which tells the story of a nun who becomes the spiritual advisor to a convicted murderer on death row. They discuss the power of opera and song in tackling existential stories of life and death, engaging with new audiences and the need for greater representation and inclusion in opera and on the concert stage.

Since the major explosion in the Port of Beirut in 2020, Lebanon has been in crisis with economic collapse, severe poverty, fuel shortages and political instability. But musicians are continuing to make their voices heard there, including the players of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra and their conductor Lubnan Baalbaki, despite a significant number of the orchestra’s players having to leave the country. Tom talks to the BBC Middle East correspondent in Beirut Lina Sinjab and conductor Lubnan Baalbaki about the fight to save the cultural life of Lebanon.

Tom is also joined by Morag Grant whose new book ‘Auld Lang Syne: A Song and its Culture’ traces the emergence of the song made famous by Robert Burns, and explores the traditions and rituals that emerged around its use as a song of parting, and as a song of New Year. Plus, we explore the sounds of Christmas and how they affect us with the BBC Big Band’s Barry Forgie, music psychologist Alex Lamont and record producer Chris Alder.