A listener’s request for an East Timorese hymn has revealed the moving story of a woman with terminal illness and the community choir in New Zealand rallying around her.

We sit down with Sheila Kay Adams, a seventh-generation Appalachian ballad singer, storyteller and claw-hammer banjo player, born and raised in the remote Sodom Laurel community of Madison County, North Carolina.

A powerhouse church singer who took reality TV show The Voice by storm in 2013, Ms Murphy joins us for some classic soul songs from her debut album, Dirty Soul.

For centuries the riderless horse has been used in military parades to symbolize fallen soldiers. It’s also the title of a collection of songs and poems from the trenches and the home front of WWI performed by Chloe and Jason Roweth who join us for an ANZAC-themed session of songs and stories.

What happens when masters of Tibetan Buddhist tantric ritual and deep harmonic chant, the Gyuto Monks of Tibet, meet two of Australia’s finest sacred musicians?

Canadian-born Tahir Hussain Faridi Qawwal is a Sufi Qawwali singer who travels the world bringing this ecstatic soulful music to Western audiences with his group Fanna-Fi-Allah. He joins us to introduce a new album Tawheed (Divine Union) and to reflect on his 20 years singing the Sufi devotional music of India and Pakistan.

A member of the influential Sands Family from County Down in Northern Ireland, singer-songwriter and broadcaster Colum Sands joins us at the National Folk Festival to sing, tell stories and reflect on the centenary of the Easter Rising, the Irish rebellion that began on Easter Monday 1916.

St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir in Sydney has been called the oldest continuing musical group in Australia with almost 200 years continuous service.  Music Director, Ross Cobb, takes us through the choir’s preparations for an Easter Sunday service with the help of three young choristers.

A story of tragedy and of renewed hope through friendship and music is told by two of Australia’s finest musicians, singer-songwriter Lior and composer Nigel Westlake, who have collaborated on a song cycle for voice and orchestra, Compassion.

A rare Australian performance of devotional folk music from two Master Musicians of Rajasthan – sarangi master Asin Khan Lunga and khartal virtuoso Bhugra Khan Manganiyar - Muslims from two of Rajasthan’s most revered musical communities, the Lungas and the Manganiyars.