Blog Archive: July 2017

Let’s hear it for classical music!

Posted on July 31st, 2017
Categories: british performers, contemporary classical music, inspiring music, live performance
Tags: clapping between movements, classical music, John Adams, Proms

Clapping between movements – good, bad or great?

Listening to Prom (the greatest classical music festival in the world) performances this year, it’s noticeable that audiences are clapping between movements. And why not?

Here are some thoughts.

If you have ever been to an opera in Italy, you will have experienced the adjudication of the performance by the audience at the end of every aria – appreciation or derision!

Under the leadership of Roger Wright, the Proms have evolved to provide not only world class performers but also to explore as many musical connections as possible so that new and different audiences have been drawn in.

Mirga takes the helm at CBSO

Posted on July 24th, 2017
Categories: contemporary classical music, inspiring music, live performance, music profession, women in music
Tags: CBSO, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, women conductors

Maestro or conductor – diva or person – commander or sharer

I tuned in part way through a Radio 4 broadcast this morning, featuring the new conductor of the CBSO Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. A member of the orchestra who was speaking was saying how refreshing it was to speak with a conductor who was not always talking about themselves or their career and interests. Mirga is actually interested in the wellbeing of each person in the orchestra, he said and is far more likely to be discussing what you are doing or how you are feeling than anything else.

Sheeran takes solo performance to new levels

Posted on July 12th, 2017
Categories: british composers, british performers, eclectic music, inspiring music, live performance
Tags: ed sheeran, glastonbury, pyramid stage

The thrilling, vibrant talent of the solo artist

There are very few solo artists who can totally captivate an audience for one and a half hours in front of a capacity house and that is what Ed Sheeran did at Glastonbury in June. I was fascinated to see the final part of Glastonbury on BBC 2 for which Ed Sheeran was the headline solo act on the Pyramid stage. This is an artist who is used to holding the attention of capacity audiences of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium for a sell-out run on several nights!

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