Such a fun episode this week as we head to Norway to chat with the guys from Blåsemafian ahead of their final round to represent Norway this year at the Eurovision Song Contest. On the episodes we chat about marching and brass bands in Norway, the let loose movement inspiring kids around Europe, and what it would be like for the first every brass lineup of this kind to perform at the Eurovision.

This week we're off to Alberta, Canada to chat with Ryan Hancock of the Calgary Stampede Showband.

Ryan is the bands' Director and a product of the incredible system they've built in Calgary. We chat about the band, WAMSB, DCI, and of course the world-famous Stampede.

This week we travel to Denmark to visit Jan Ulrick Hansen to chat about bands in Denmark, the evolution of marching band in Europe, and the famous Tivoli Guards Band in Copenhagen.

Jan has been a member of the WAMSB Judges Bureau since 2001. His jury experience includes marching, show and parade band assignments at several different national, international and world championships. As a member of different musical boards in Denmark, he is past chairman of the union of music schools in greater Copenhagen.

This week's show is a really uplifting and positive step into 2021 with an inspiring leader and director. Matthew Arau is Chair of the Music Education Department and Associate Director of Bands at the Lawrence University and Founder of Upbeat Global which focuses on leadership and professional development in our music education community!

We're back for a new year, and what better way to kick off the year than with a close friend and colleague. John DeNovi has been helping to grow the activity and Drum Corps and promote the marching arts across the world for years and has been one of the driving forces behind DCI's SoundSport and Drumline Battle programmes.

 

Find out more about DCI at www.dci.org

Join us as we say goodbye to 2020 with our new monthly podcast. Every month we'll be sitting around with band directors, planning an imaginary concert and maybe (definitely) have a drink or two!

This months programme is called "A 2020 Christmas" and I'm joined by Gail Brechting, Mark Nichols, and Andrew Jordan as we plan the only Christmas concert most of us will be able to this year!

So great to be able to wrap up the show for 2020 with these amaaaaaazing guests! Thanks so much to Darcy and Mark for joining me on Thursday and to Kaleidoscope Adventures for their ongoing support of all three shows!

I really enjoyed my conversation with this weeks guest John Lynch of the Sydney Conservatorium. John is a fascinating guy having started with a successful career in the USA before moving to Australia to lead the development of wind band in Sydney!

Björn Bus is an award-winning and hugely in-demand conductor from the Netherlands and serves as the Artistic Director of the World Music Contest in Kerkrade as well as a member of the WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) board of directors.

Björn joined me to talk about his career, his views on conducting and commissioning, and the hard decision to postpone the WMC festival to 2022.

2020 has been a challenging season for bands across the world, but with the 2020 DCI season cancelled in the USA, Drum Corps faced a particularly difficult year. Mike Scott, CEO of the Bluecoats joined me to talk about the innovative ways that they've approached the year and the lessons that they plan to carry into 2021 and beyond.