10 Classical Podcasts Created During Lockdown
With the world and his dog stuck at home during lockdown, the world of podcasting has suddenly expanded even further. According to Ofcom, before lockdown started, around 7.1 million people in the UK listen to podcasts each week – one in eight people – which is an increase of over 24% over the past year. Earlier this year we gave our classical music podcast recommendations but here are a further 10, all of which have been started during lockdown in the UK. If you make it all the way to the bottom, you’ll find some extras with zero crossover with classical music (unless we can persuade them otherwise 😏). For further updates from us, follow @alterclassical on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or sign up for our mailing list.
Kate Manasse at Polyphony Arts has started Music Works, which looks at how the classical music industry works today and explores how it can work better in the future both for those of us who work in the music sector and the audiences who support us. “When you work in an industry so closely you can’t help but become aware of the unfairnesses and the problems that exist within the industry. Since COVID-19 happened and lockdown happened, those problems have come more and more to the fore. And I want to change that.”
Check out episode 12 with our Co-Founder Hannah Fiddy: Redefining the concert space.
“What do you do?” is not always an easy question to answer. How does a portfolio career influence how you self-identify? Join Jan Capinski, an opera-singer-turned-videographer, as he talks to other job-straddling creative-types about how we got to where we are.
Hannah Mitchell-Harrison, also known as the South Wales Pianist, hosts this podcast that aims to inspire, encourage and support you on your freelance journey as a musician. It combines solo shows covering topics that relate to business, mindset, marketing and much more, alongside interviews with freelance musicians where we chat about their own journeys and the lessons they've learnt along the way.
Check out the episode with our Co-Founder Hannah Fiddy: ‘How to take action and turn your creative idea into a real life project’.
A classical music podcast hosted by young opera singers Alexander Simpson and Helen Daniels. Where’s My Freaking Dressing Room?! invites you backstage for those conversations which only really take place behind dressing room doors: Coronavirus meltdowns, audition disasters and performance highlights. Join Alex and Helen for an access-all-areas account of the weird and wonderful world of classical singing.
More than ever before, musicians have to think outside the box as reinvention is inevitable in a new era for the performing arts. By asking "What Would Mozart Do?" each episode features musicians who discuss how they have transferred the skills that music had taught them into other fields of work. Hosted by Nico de Villiers.
A weekly podcast from Country & Town House with their culture editor Ed Vaizey, who talLockdown Cultureks to journalist Charlotte Metcalf about what he thinks is worth tuning into – and what to tune out of – in the week ahead. He navigates the often overwhelming choices on offer giving his picks for what to watch, read and listen to.
Former Classic FM presenter Tommy Pearson presents a weekly podcast with Fiona Maddocks (classical music critic for the Observer) and Richard Bratby (critic for The Spectator). They argue the toss about their ‘top 5’ to make the definitive list of the best pieces of music, performers, composers, films and books about classical music.
This series discusses all aspects of the classical music industry. It's run by four students on the Classical Music Business MA at Middlesex University (where I am a guest lecturer) who are excited to explore new ideas and formats for classical music and would like to share their ideas to those in industry and to those who want to enter the industry.
Every week, British conductor Michael Seal (often found conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) interviews a leading conductor about their life, their inspirations and their career.
Conversations on belonging in the creative media industries, hosted by composer Ella Jarman-Pinto, who chats to other like-minded people in the creative media industries about how we find ourselves, how we can create space for others, and make the industry more inclusive. It's only when we can truly feel a sense of belonging, that we have the capacity and power to welcome others authentically who are different from us and to really listen, see, welcome and empower others.
You can also check out the new pods from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Gramophone Award-nominated vocal ensemble The Marian Consort, vocal consort The Gesualdo Six. Plus the Royal Northern College of Music has a YouTube radio show showcasing the work of their staff, students and alumni via news, interviews and performances from their archives.
Other podcasts started during lockdown that have absolutely nothing to do with classical music are: James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds (2016 in music), Telling Everybody Everything (stories and candid chat) by Katherine Ryan, Grounded (interviews with celebrities) with Louis Theroux and Lifers (heavy metal) with Ed Gamble.
Hannah Fiddy is a creative entrepreneur, developing new audiences for classical music. She has created and promoted numerous concerts outside of traditional spaces, including warehouses, pubs, clubs, museums, hospitals, prisons and even in Primark. Hannah is also an interviewer, writer and guest lecturer, and runs the Avon Chamber Choir in Bristol. In a past life she founded London Flashmob, producing quirky events from wedding proposals to cultural pranks for up to 1,000 people.
Follow Hannah on Twitter @Hannah_Fiddy.