Shop
Welcome to our shop, stocked with books, games, stickers, posters, clothes and greetings cards. All products are sold by third-party sites; we don’t keep any in stock ourselves. Where possible, links go to independent seller sites to support creatives, and items will be shipped from within the UK. Ordering an item via our shop means that, in some cases, we earn a small amount of commission, which helps support our mission, so thank you (this does not cut into the makers’ profits).
To discover more musical fiction novels, visit our full bookshop on Bookshop.org.
recently published books
the instrumentalist by harriet constable (2024)
Anna Maria may have no name, no fortune, no family. But she has her ambition, and her talent. Her best hope lies in her teacher, Antonio Vivaldi. Soon she is his star pupil.
The Fetishist by Katherine Min (2024)
The story of three people including Daniel, a philandering violinist; Alma, Korean American cello prodigy; and Kyoko, a Japanese American punk-rock singer.
cello by kate kennedy (2024)
Kate Kennedy weaves together the lives of four remarkable cellists who suffered various forms of persecution, injury and misfortune: Pál Hermann, Lise Cristiani, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Amedeo Baldovino.
classical music business
run it like a business by aubrey bergauer (2024)
A framework to help arts organisations revitalise their economic engines and serve the art and its patrons. Authored by Aubrey Bergauer, “the Steve Jobs of classical music” (Observer).
challenging performance by daniel leech-wilkinson (2020)
A polemical book about freeing performance from unnecessary rules and constraints and from much of the anxiety that comes with classical training and practice.
the future of classical music by david taylor (2022)
For the classical music industry to survive, we need to start having conversations on what the future looks like and how we get there. This book exists to be a starting point.
classical music futures: practices of innovation (2023)
This volume brings together contributions from a wide range of international academics and practitioners. It traces innovations within classical music practice, showing how these offer divergent visions for its future.
the classical music industry (2020)
This book examines how the cultural and economic practice of classical music is kept mobile and alive. One chapter explores classical music in nightclubs and other non-traditional settings.
voices for change in the classical music profession (2023)
How is the classical music industry responding to the challenges of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and other social justice movements? Is increasing attention to equity and diversity leading to systemic change?
audience experience of classical concerts
Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience (2016)
An exploration of the processes and experiences of attending live music events from the initial decision to attend through to audience responses and memories of a performance after it has happened.
Understanding Audience Engagement in the Contemporary Arts (2020)
A critical interrogation of the challenges of access, diversity, privilege and responsibility in contemporary art. This book asks who benefits from, pays for and consumes the arts.
Audience Experience and Contemporary Classical Music (2023)
Through analysing how existing audience members experience live contemporary classical music, this book seeks to make data-informed contributions to future discussions on audience diversity and accessibility.
freelance life
the guidebook to self-releasing your music (2024)
A must-have resource for anyone looking to release their music: first-timers or seasoned experts who want the latest developments.
the entrepreneurial muse by jeffrey nytch (2018)
This book explores principles of entrepreneurship in a classical music setting, giving readers practical tools to help realise a personally authentic career that is sustainable, fulfilling, and impactful.
business for bohemians by tom hodgkinson (2017)
Accounting need no longer be a dark art. You will become au fait with business plans and a friend of the spreadsheet. Freedom from the nine-to-five life is achievable…
women in classical music
quartet by leah broad (2023)
The lives, loves, adventures and trailblazing musical careers of four extraordinary women from a stunning debut biographer.
I Am Mozart, Too (2022)
A powerful story for children about music, feminism, ambition, and the girl who was and always will be a Mozart.
Sounds and Sweet Airs (2017)
The highs and lows experienced by eight composers across the centuries, from Renaissance Florence to 20th-century London.
grace notes (1998)
A novel about a young female composer who returns to Belfast after a long absence. Shortlisted for the 1997 Booker prize.
women and the piano (2023)
A much-needed corrective to our understanding of the piano, exploring the lives of 50 women pianists across history.
m is for mummy (2023)
A novel about a freelance cellist who becomes a mum and now spends most days mopping up broccoli vomit.
diversity in classical music
The Sound of Difference by Kristina Kolbe (2024)
What happens when the elitist space of ‘Western’ classical music seeks to diversify itself?
singing like germans by kira thurman (2021)
The sweeping story of Black musicians in German-speaking Europe over more than a century.
The Time of our Singing by Richard Powers (2003)
A wrenching novel about the lives of one mixed-race family. Even as Jonah becomes a successful tenor, the opera arena remains fixated on his race.
mental health
can music make you sick? (2020)
Musicians often pay a high price for sharing their art. Underneath the glow of success can often lie loneliness and exhaustion, not to mention the basic struggles of paying the rent or buying food.
burnout: solve your stress cycle (2020)
The gap between what it's really like to be a woman and what people expect women to be is a primary cause of burnout. Co-author Amelia Nagoski is a choral conductor in the US.
Music and Parental Mental Wellbeing (2024)
A new and comprehensive opportunity to consider how music can support parental mental wellbeing, drawing on recent ground-breaking practice and research.
novels
Briefly, A Delicious Life by nell stevens (2023)
A story about convention, about men and women and the cruelty they mete out to one another, and about Frédéric Chopin.
The Marriage: The Mahlers in New York (2023)
The first account of Gustav and Alma Mahlers' tumultuous New York sojourn in 1907. He remained a chronic outsider, with his younger wife bearing much of the brunt amid their turbulent surroundings.
a terrible kindness by jo browning wroe (2022)
This Sunday Times bestseller tells the story of an ex-Cambridge chorister during the Aberfan landslide in 1966.
the girl with twenty fingers by kate mueser (2023)
Sarah's hope of becoming a concert pianist was shattered when she bombed an important performance of a Mozart concerto. This heartwarming story follows her journey back to music and herself through an unlikely friendship.
A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp (2023)
A bitingly honest, darkly funny debut about love, sex, power and desire from the perspective of an opera singer in training.
august blue by deborah levy (2023)
At the height of her career, concert pianist Elsa Anderson - former child prodigy, now in her 30s - walks off the stage in Vienna, mid-performance. This is her story. A Sunday Times bestseller.
For more musical novels, visit our bookshop >>
non-fiction books
sound within sound by kate molleson (2022)
A 2022 reappraisal of 20th-century classical music that challenges stereotypical portrayals of the genre and shatters its traditional canon.
class, control, and classical music by anna bull (2022)
An analysis of why classical music in England is predominantly practiced by white middle-class people.
music: a subversive history by ted gioia (2021)
Gioia tells the four-thousand-year history of music as a source of power, change, upheaval, and enchantment.
anthologies
Anthology of New Music: Trans & Nonbinary Voices (2021)
21 vocal works for trans and nonbinary voices, curated by writer and singer Aiden K. Feltkamp, and published in 2021.
the oxford book of organ music by women composers (2023)
42 organ pieces for manuals and pedals, spanning the 16th century to the present day, suitable for use at church services or as recital repertoire.
The Oxford Book of Choral Music by Black Composers (2023)
35 pieces for SATB choir, including a mixture of sacred and secular works from the renaissance period up to the present day.
HerStory: The Piano Collection (2022)
Piano repertoire by remarkable female composers. This collection is progressively graded, suitable for intermediate to advanced level players (approx Grade 4 to Grade 8).
women composers: a graded anthology for piano (2022)
Piano music with a broad repertoire from the 17th century to the present day, including works by Beach, Boulanger, Hensel and Schumann.
Sacred Music by Women Composers: satb anthems (2019)
22 anthems for mixed-voice choirs, accompanied and unaccompanied, showcasing the very best established and new names in choral composition.
posters, stickers & games
female composers poster (£15)
"There just haven't been as many female composers" poster, available in A2 or A3 size.
imperfect musician sticker (£1.50)
What even is perfection? Brushed gold stickers ideal for instrument cases.
quartet card game (£12)
A fun and easy to play game for 2-6 players using a colourful deck of 36 composer cards.
clothes
Camisole Dress (£119 £47.60)
A stretchy concert dress, perfect for pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding, with adjustable straps.
melody pinafore (£79 £45)
Autumn-coloured pinafore with a music-playing cat from London-based fashion brand Miss Patina.
opera diva socks (£9)
Channel your inner diva with these opera socks from Chatty Feet, available in UK sizes 5-8 and 9-12.
black composers t-shirt (£15.99)
Celebrate some famous black composers with this gender-balanced t-shirt.
Word - Christmas Sweatshirt (£35)
Word of the Father! The "Chord of Christmas" unisex sweatshirt, available in red or black.
Aristocat Shirt (£69)
A perfect combination of cats and music! Crafted with a lightweight delicate fabric and full-length sleeves.
greetings cards
Upright Piano Houseplant Card (£3.99)
Card artwork features an upright piano with lovely cheese and spider plants.
violin workshop card (£3)
A5 card reproduced from a dip-pen and watercolour illustration of a violin, viola and cello workshop in Somerset.
old piano greeting card (£4.20)
Printed on heavyweight quality white card. Left blank or a personalised message can be added within.