Interviews

All the Seen and Heard Interviews

András Keller, the Music Director of Concerto Budapest, in conversation with Gregor Tassie

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András Keller answers Gregor Tassie’s questions Gregor Tassie: The last two years have been intensely difficult for musicians worldwide, how did the pandemic affect your musicians and what did you do to bring music to your audiences? András Keller: In the first three months of the pandemic, we remained partially silent, as I’m not a … Read more

Northern Irish composer Greg Caffrey in conversation with Robert Beattie

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Contemporary music composer and founder of the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, Greg Caffrey, interviewed by Robert Beattie Northern Irish composer, Greg Caffrey, has won a number of awards for his compositions including First Prize at the Concorso, Counterpoint, Italy in May 2012, the Taukay Edizioni Musicali International Composition Prize in 2012 and the Musica Domani International … Read more

Peter Oundjian, new Principal Conductor of the Colorado Symphony, in conversation with Laurence Vittes

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On 15 February, the Colorado Symphony Association announced the appointment of Peter Oundjian as Principal Conductor. In addition to conducting six Classics performances each season, Oundjian, who served as the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor from 2003 to 2006, will take a leading role in ‘reimagining’ the traditional symphonic model and positioning the Colorado Symphony as … Read more

CONDUCTOR DANIEL GROSSMANN IN CONVERSATION WITH ANTOINE LÉVY-LEBOYER

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Interview with Daniel Grossmann, founder, conductor and artistic director of the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich Antoine Lévy-Leboyer (ALL): How did you start the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich? Daniel Grossmann (DG): So, I had this idea in 1999. I was 21 years old. I grew up in Munich and did not like the way the Jewish … Read more

COUNTERTENOR JAKUB JÓZEF ORLIŃSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH RICK PERDIAN

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Jakub Józef Orliński talks to Rick Perdian Jakub Józef Orliński became an international sensation in 2017 with a YouTube video of him singing an aria, ‘Vedro con mio diletto’, from Vivaldi’s opera Il Giustino. Rather than the fiery coloratura Baroque showpieces that he often sings, the Polish countertenor performed a smoothly flowing love song with … Read more

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra has much to celebrate

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The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is one of ten contenders for the 2021 Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Award. This year, as has been the case since the award’s inception in 2018, nominees are chosen by the magazine’s editors and reviewers, and the winner will be decided entirely by international public vote. Previous winners include the … Read more

Howard Smith discusses his book Note For Note: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

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Note For Note: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
An interview with author and amateur pianist, Howard Smith

Howard Smith has had a top-flight career in the world of computing and computer programming. On approaching retirement, he decided to leave his career and try something completely different – learn to play the piano. Howard had started the learn to play the piano as a child but was uninspired by the rigid approach adopted at that time and did not continue with his studies. In his book, Note For Note – Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered he describes the new and creative approaches which his teachers adopted to enable him to engage with the process of learning to play.

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