Three In A Bar

Hello lovely listener, here we are again. We promised you an episode by the end of the week, and by jove, here it is.

This episode we sit down with the brilliant Ellie Consta, violinist, composer, and founder of the groundbreaking Her Ensemble—the UK's first women and non-binary string orchestra. Ellie’s visionary work is pushing boundaries in classical music, aiming to reshape an industry that has historically lacked diversity and inclusivity.

We dive into her journey, from her early days as a classical violinist to the founding of Her Ensemble, and how the group is creating space for women and non-binary musicians to thrive. Ellie shares how Her Ensemble is not only changing who’s represented on stage, but also reimagining the music itself—blending classical with pop and electronic influences, commissioning new works, and challenging traditional concert formats.

Highlights include:

• The inspiration behind Her Ensemble and how it’s changing the landscape of classical music.
• Ellie’s thoughts on the challenges faced by women and non-binary musicians in classical spaces.
• The creative process behind some of their most exciting performances and collaborations.
• The importance of representation and diversity in music.
• Her Ensemble’s future projects and vision for the next generation of musicians.
• Possible future plans for fashion collaborations, but which way to go with it - Cath Kidston, or Ultimate Hun??

Tune in to hear Ellie’s insightful perspective on transforming classical music and the empowering stories behind her mission to create a more inclusive industry.

🎧 **Listen now!**

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This week’s guest is virtuoso pianist, composer and improviser Arsha Kaviani.

Arsha joined Seb and Verity for a chat ahead of the release of his debut studio album Accents and Echoes (see link below). He talks about the eclectic mix of influences featured on the album

but also in shaping his musical life…we’re talking Bach to Massive Attack via Rachmaninov and Led Zeppelin.

Conversation includes Arsha’s journey from growing up in Dubai to studying in Manchester and ending up in London. He talks about his ‘Musical Portraiture’, bringing a centuries old form of patronage into the 21st Century…it’s a darned good idea!

Thanks to Premier Classical for setting up this fascinating and joyful chat with Arsha.

Click here to find links to Arsha’s new album Accents and Echoes https://lnk.to/arshakaviani

You can find us on the socials here;

Instagram @threeinabarpod

Tiktok @threeinabarpod

Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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This week, Seb and Verity are joined by composer, arranger, keyboard player with the Hoosiers, long time Bear’s Den collaborator and old mate Paul Frith.

In true Three In A Bar style this episode is full of twists and turns - we find out whether Paul has ever been in a fight, how he came to write a symphony about Shackleton and some super niche mouthpiece chat.

We also find out why Paul and his Hoosier band mates had to be speedily escorted from a gig venue somewhere in the north of England.

Paul is the first guest we’ve had who has set us a mathematical challenge - Do we think this is something that will catch on? That is yet to be seen!

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Instagram @threeinabarpod

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Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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This week’s episode was a total pleasure to record as we are joined by Australian cellist, singer and songwriter Monique Clare.

Monique is currently on a European tour and will be appearing at the Cambridge folk festival this month. Aside from festivals, she can frequently be found with her cello up mountains, on cliff tops and more conventionally in concert halls and jazz clubs across the world.

Monique chats to Seb and Verity about some of her recent performances as well as recording her latest album Sight, performing with rap legend Eminem, her musical roots and how the heck she manages to so successfully sing and play at the same time! 

In fact, Monique goes one step further and tries to teach Verity how to do the same. You’ll be delighted to hear the results are all recorded for your listening pleasure?!

Better than this, Monique gives us an extraordinary performance at the end of this episode which is not to be missed! 

This podcast is released in association with D'Addario. D'Addario is the world's largest musical instrument accessories manufacturer and is committed to sustainably providing musicians with the most innovative musical accessories in the world. 

Monique Clare uses Kaplan cello strings and you can find out more here: ddar.io/cello

To learn more about all that D’Addario offers musicians, head to daddario.com 

Go to https://www.moniqueclare.com/ to learn more about Monique!

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

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Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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Here's a little catch up between your two co-hosts, as it had been a minute since they had last spoke. All a nice warm up really before tomorrow's blistering episode with Monique Clare. It's loose chat, in which they cover Verity's new show, Fiddler On The Roof at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, and Verity gives her frank opinions on every member of the band. Seb discusses his latest hyper-fixation, Nancy cuts a tooth, and Verity celebrates her first string arrangement being released on Christof Van Der Ven's new record, "For The Ages".

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

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Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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This week we headed back online to chat to internationally acclaimed concert pianist and film star Clare Hammond (ok, ok, maybe it was one film but she was playing a young Dame Maggie Smith so come on!)

We chatted to Clare ahead of her concerts at this year’s Cheltenham Festival - thanks to the wonderful Dan Hartland for setting up this conversation. Clare talks about the exciting programme for her solo concert, centering around a new commission by Sun Keting.

She talks about the dos and don’ts of prepared pianos, top venues, music for left hand piano and the joys in discovering some great yet little known composers - have you heard of Hélène de Montgeroult? We certainly hadn’t but Clare tells us about her unbelievable background…

We also discuss recent Clare’s foray into acting - and try to talk her into a Netflix series. We were definitely more into this idea than she was!

To book tickets for Clare’s concerts at the Cheltenham Festival and check what else is going on, click here; https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/clare-hammond

To find out more about Clare, you can visit her website; https://clarehammond.com/

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

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Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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We’re back!!! We’ve missed you all….but what a way to kick off this season of TIAB than with none other than Artistic director and founder of Classical Pride Uk Oliver Zeffman.

Oliver is an internationally renowned conductor, working frequently with orchestras including the CBSO, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre national d'Île-de-France and Ulster Orchestra.

Oliver founded Classical Pride in 2023 with an inaugural concert by the CBSO at the Barbican. This year it has been extended to 5 concerts starting with Classical Drag and culminating with Oliver making his LSO debut at the Barbican in a concert celebrating LBGTQ+ artists and composers hosted by Nick Grimshaw (find ticket links below).

We took Oliver on a walk around central London to chat all things Pride plus future plans, lockdown films, TV recommendations and where he gets his batons from!!

In true TIAB fashion this trip was littered with complications including technical issues, reversing forklifts and a bird poo incident…What other way would we want to make our comeback?!

To find out more and book tickets for Classical Pride 2024 click here; www.classicalpride.uk

instagram.com/classicalprideuk

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

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Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

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More questions from you and answers from us. Could we live anywhere other than London? Do we own our instruments? And what have we each started deoing recently that has changed our lives?

All this and more in today's episode. To send in your questions (about absolutely anything), then please email [email protected] or hit us up on the socials.

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

Tiktok @threeinabarpod

Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is our least favourite orchestral instrument? And why is it the oboe?

How do you plan anything as a freelancer? What happens if you book a holiday and then a load of nice work comes in - what do you do?

Should you start a pension? Or just keep working until you die.

All this and more in today's episode. To send in your questions (about absolutely anything), then please email [email protected] or hit us up on the socials.

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

Tiktok @threeinabarpod

Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quiz question for you - what links Torchwood, Thunderbirds, Happy Valley & Mog? We’ll tell you what…some seriously great scores courtesy of this week’s guest Ben Foster.

Ben is a BAFTA winning composer, but also a well renowned and much in demand conductor, orchestrator and arranger with a string of TV and film credits to his name.

We met up with Ben in his writing room, tucked away at the top of Air Studios for a chat about just a fraction of his incredible musical output. (N.B there is a glaring error in the fact we didn’t get round to chatting about his work on last year’s Beatles single Now and Then - maybe next time?)

Ben talks about important relationships he has formed with musicians over the years, how he found himself with a room at Air and composing themes for the brilliant BBC drama series Happy Valley.

He discusses the importance of time efficiency and knowing when to switch off, as well as realising when a job Isn’t working out and how to get out of it.

We discover whether the much mentioned ‘Toby’ Ben speaks of is man or myth!

Find out more about Ben Foster here; https://coolmusicltd.com/composers/ben-foster/

SUPPORT THREE IN A BAR ON PATREON

Join our Members’ Club for a bonus podcast feed plus many more rewards.

Click here: https://www.patreon.com/threeinabar

Instagram @threeinabarpod

Tiktok @threeinabarpod

Three In A Bar on Youtube

Anything you’d like to share with us? Any guests you’d love to hear or anything you’d like us to do better? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.