The Music Show

With a voice that's 'equal parts balm and blowtorch' Irish multi-instrumentalist and singer songwriter Susan O'Neill makes a welcome return to The Music Show. She was one of our last live guests in March 2020 before she had to cut her tour short and race home. The last four years have been filled with nature, songwriting and collaboration and she joins us from her home in County Clare to pull apart the music and lyrics on her brand new album Now In A Minute.British cellist Steven Isserlis returns to Australia, and The Music Show, to talk about “falling madly in love” with Gabriel Fauré, and his friendship with György Kurtág.Susan O’Neill will be playing in Australia in December and January.Steven Isserlis plays with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 3-5 October.

Singer songwriter Eliza Hull has been writing and performing piano-driven pop music for over a decade. She's also a disability advocate and has championed increased visibility and access for musicians around Australia. Only in the last couple of years has she started sharing more about her own disability in her songwriting, including last year's EP Here They Come. Eliza is on The Music Show ahead of Alter State - a Deaf and Disability-led arts festival in Melbourne.Sir Donald Runnicles is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Sydney Symphony, the outgoing Music Director of Deutsche Oper Berlin, Artistic Director of Grand Teton Music Festival and Chief Conductor Designate at the Dresden Philharmonic. Between all that he managed to swing by the studio to talk about “having all the fun without too much responsibility” with the Sydney Symphony, and bringing Duruflé’s requiem to the orchestra for the first time.

Ten years ago Melody Pool was a rising star of the Australian folk music scene. She won awards and released two acclaimed albums of heartbreaking songs, and then she disappeared. It takes a lot of guts to step back publicly from the music industry when your career has so much momentum, but Melody made the decision to prioritise her mental health.Last year she made a return to recording and touring; free of the constraints of a major label contract and determined to do things on her terms. And she's writing some of her best music yet.When Sam Weller started conducting he didn't have an orchestra to practice with so he started his own. Over eight years Ensemble Apex has introduced eclectic audiences to classical and contemporary repertoire in unconventional settings (think art storage facilities, breweries, and rooms where the audience sits amongst the orchestra). Sam Weller is also one of 6 'designated winners' of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam and he explains to Andrew Ford the rigours of a competition like this, and why it pays to be versatile.

The gods are unhappy with a despotic king (Gilgamesh). They create a half-man, half-beast to topple him (Enkidu). They meet, Enkidu doesn’t topple him. They fall in love, destroy a forest, there’s retribution from the gods. Enkidu dies and Gilgamesh wonders what the point of life is. He searches for immortality. And of course there are dancing scorpions.That’s the shortest possible version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, as summarised by composer Jack Symonds, who’s taken on the tale for its first English language opera adaptation. Gilgamesh brings together Sydney Chamber Opera with the Australian String Quartet, Ensemble Offspring, and support from Opera Australia to stage this enormously ambitious piece at inner-city post-industrial venue Carriageworks.Andy pops into rehearsal to talk to Jack, Jeremy Kleeman (Gilgamesh), and Mitchell Riley (Enkidu), and to hear a live performance from Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and those dancing scorpions. And with the sad news this week that Australian-Tatar singer, folk musician and director of The Boîte, Zulya Kamalova has died, The Music Show remembers her energy and her music with a live performance from Zulya and the Children of the Underground, and an interview from the archives. 

Alynda Segarra, the creative force behind Hurray For The Riff Raff, shares tales from their adventurous youth, from train-hopping to discovering community in New Orleans. They explore how their hardships shaped their latest album, 'The Past Is Still Alive.' Jazz drummer Laurence Pike discusses his innovative work, 'The Undreamt-Of Centre,' blending genres like modern classical and ambient. Together, they reflect on the emotional weight of music, intertwining personal narratives with artistic evolution, and share insights on crafting music during challenging times.

Performance artist, composer, and violinist Laurie Anderson once told The Music Show that she sometimes starts off thinking something is an opera, and it ends up being a potato print. Her latest album, Amelia, began life as a much longer orchestral piece that “didn’t work at all”, but at least it avoided the fate of becoming a potato print. It’s a portrait of Amelia Earhart and a sprawling, atmospheric imagining of her last flight. Laurie returns to The Music Show, with frequent contributions from her dog Willie, to talk to Andy about technology, identifying as an “artist”, and the “thrill” of her 1981 single O Superman finding a new audience with kids on TikTok. Finnish-Australian composer and cellist Simon Svoboda has bunkered down and used the darkest, coldest time of year in Finland to write suite of music KAAMOS. Each piece is inspired by a different element of winter (like mist, frost, smoke, light) and blends his cello with his soaring falsetto. He speaks to Andrew Ford about the healthy state of music in Scandinavia and the complexities of writing minimalist music. 

Arnold Schoenberg’s music tore a hole in the fabric of the twentieth century. Over the course of his life, he charted a new course through expressionism, atonality, and ultimately to the invention of twelve tone serialism. As the father of the Second Viennese School, he’s been both cursed and adored (often at the same time) by the people who’ve taken up his scores – you’ll hear quite a lot of the adoration and no small amount of the cursing on this episode of The Music Show. Danaë Killian, who is about to perform his complete solo piano works, and Jeremy Eichler, who wrote about Schoenberg in his prize-winning book Time’s Echo, join Andy, and you’ll hear voices including Pierre Boulez, singers Tabatha McFadyen, Merlyn Quaife and Jane Manning, conductors Simone Young and Roger Benedict, pianist Simon Tedeschi, violinists Jack Liebeck and Michael Barenboim, and author Joy Calico from The Music Show’s archives.Danaë Killian performs Schoenberg’s complete solo piano music at Tempo Rubato in Naarm/Melbourne on 13 September.Jeremy Eichler’s Time’s Echo is published by Alfred A. Knopf and Faber, newly in paperback. Music heard in the show:1899 - Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 Artist: Amichai Grosz; Maxim Rysanov; Jens Peter Maintz; Janine Jansen; Boris Brovtsyn; Torleif ThedéenAlbum: Janine Jansen plays Schoenberg & SchubertLabel: Decca 47835511905 – String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7Artist: Julliard String QuartetAlbum: Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 1 Label: Sony G010004560203F1908 - String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 Artist: Amaryllis Quartet, Katharina PersickeAlbum: YellowLabel: Genuin GEN164381909 - Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11Artist: Danaë KillianAlbum: Arnold Schoenberg - Complete Works for Piano SoloLabel: Move Records MCD513 1911 - Six Little Pieces for Piano, Op. 19 Artist: Danaë KillianAlbum: Arnold Schoenberg - Complete Works for Piano SoloLabel: Move Records MCD513 1911 - Gurrelieder Artist: Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, Philharmonia Voices, Esa-Pekka SalonenAlbum: Schoenberg - GurreliederLabel: Signum SIGCD1731912 - Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21Artist: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin/sprechgesang), Meesun Hong (violin), Julia Gallego (flute), Reto Bieri (clarinet), Thomas Kaufmann (cello), Joonas Ahonen (piano), Marko Milenkovic (viola)Album: Schoenberg – Pierrot LunaireLabel: Alpha ALPHA722Artist: Mary Thomas (soprano/reciter), London Sinfonietta, David AthertonAlbum: Schoenberg – Pierrot Lunaire and SerenadeLabel: Decca 42562621923 - Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 23 Artist: Danaë KillianAlbum: Arnold Schoenberg - Complete Works for Piano SoloLabel: Move Records MCD513 1923 - Suite for Piano, Op. 25 Artist: Danaë KillianAlbum: Arnold Schoenberg - Complete Works for Piano SoloLabel: Move Records MCD513 1929/1931 - Two Pieces for Piano, Op. 33 Artist: Danaë KillianAlbum: Arnold Schoenberg - Complete Works for Piano SoloLabel: Move Records MCD513 1930 – Accompaniment to a film scene, Op. 34 Artist: BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre BoulezAlbum: Pierre Boulez Edition – Schoenberg ILabel: Sony G010001828334P1936 - Violin Concerto, Op. 36 Artist: Michael Barenboim, Vienna Philharmonic, Pierre BoulezAlbum: Schoenberg: Violin and Piano ConcertosLabel: Peral 4811613Artist: Jack Liebeck, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Andrew GourlayAlbum: Schoenberg and Brahms – Violin ConcertosLabel: Orchid Classics ORC1001291942 - Piano Concerto, Op. 42 Artist: Simon TedeschiPerformed in The Music Show studio1947 - A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 Artist: Gunther Reich (speaker), BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre BoulezAlbum: A Survivor from WarsawLabel: Sony M358821949 - Phantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47Artist: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Joonas Ahonen (piano)Album: Schoenberg – Pierrot LunaireLabel: Alpha ALPHA722Interviews heard in the show:Jeremy EichlerDanaë Killian Simone Young (2024)Tabatha McFadyen (2022)Jane Manning (1996)Merlyn Quaife (2003)Roger Benedict (2024)Pierre Boulez (2001)Michael Barenboim (2014)Jack Liebeck (2022)Joy Calico (2015)The Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra CountryTechnical production by Bethany Stewart, Nathan Turnbull and Tegan Nicholls

Jazz has always been about innovation and collaboration, and saxophonist and composer Sandy Evans has excelled on both counts for nearly four decades. She returns to The Music Show studio to perform live with an eclectic trio—the bass trombone of Adrian Sherriff and Suresh Vaidyanathan's ghatam (Indian clay drum). Sandy reflects on a life filled with musical conversations and why she's re-releasing her old albums for the streaming generation. How do you make historical speeches something that people will actually want to sit down and listen to? You set them to music. Composer Robert Davidson has teamed up with pianist Sonya Lifschitz to create a series of live musical portraits that weave archival audio from women like Frida Kahlo, Greta Thunberg, Michelle Obama and Patti Smith with piano music and video projections. Both the composer and performer will be on to talk about the inherent musicality of speech and how the work can breathe new life into figures from the past. So Much Myself: Piano Portraits is on at Brisbane Festival on 21 September.Sandy Evans performs with Adrian Sherriff and Suresh Vaidyanathan at Local Edition on 7 September, Festival of the Winds in Bondi on 8 September and at JazzLab in Melbourne on 15 September.Sandy Evans Trio (with Brett Hirst and Toby Hall) perform at Church St Studios on 30 September and at Inner West Jazz Fest on 20 October. Music in the program:Title: So Much Myself (Nina Simone)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composerTitle: One PlanetArtist: Sandy Evans, Suresh Vaidyanathan, Adrian SherriffComposer: Sandy EvansRecorded live in The Music Show studioTitle: Improvised percussion duetArtist: Adrian Sherriff, Suresh VaidyanathanComposer: Adrian Sherriff, Suresh VaidyanathanRecorded live in The Music Show studioTitle: Ritual BurningArtist: Sandy Evans Trio (Sandy Evans, Brett Hirst, Toby Hall)Composer: Sandy EvansAlbum: The Running Tide (due 27 September)Label: IndependentTitle: To Connect (Michelle Obama)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composerTitle: Sweet Spring (E. E. Cummings)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonAlbum: Stalin's PianoLabel: IndependentTitle: Portrait of Diego (Frida Kahlo)Artist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composerTitle: Susan SontagArtist: Sonya LifschitzComposer: Robert DavidsonLive recording courtesy of the composerTitle: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21: XII. GalgenliedComposer: Arnold SchoenbergArtist: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Thomas Kaufmann, Reto Bieri, Júlia Gállego, Joonas Ahonen, Meesun HongAlbum: Schoenberg: Pierrot LunaireLabel: ALPHA Classics ALPHA 722Technical production by Nathan Turnbull, Tegan Nicholls and Beth StewartThe Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country

Composer Larry Sitsky is a charming sort of thorn in the side of the Australian music scene, and he’s about to turn 90. In this conversation recorded at the 2024 Canberra International Music Festival, he doesn’t hold back. New York based trumpeter Chloe Rowlands divides her time between playing with art brass quartet the Westerlies, and with groups like Fleet Foxes and the 8-Bit Big Band. She’s visiting both edges of Australia when she collaborates with the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Sydney Conservatorium’s Equity in Jazz Program. Larry Sitsky’s The Compleat Busoni is published by ANU Press.Chloe Rowlands performs a free concert at Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Thursday 5 September, 6.30-8.30pm. Chloe performs two shows in Perth with WA Youth Jazz Orchestra, in the Progressions 2024 Showcase and at The Ellington Jazz Club. Music heard in the show:Title: When All of This is OverComposer: Chloe RowlandsArtist: The WesterliesAlbum: Songbook Vol. 2Label: The Westerlies MusicTitle: Piano Concerto No. 1 – The Twenty-Two Paths of the Tarot; vi. The LoversComposer: Larry SitskyArtist: Roger Woodward, David Porcelijn, Adelaide Symphony OrchestraAlbum: A Concerto CollectionLabel: ABC Classics 481 1322Title: Sonatina Seconda Composer: Ferruccio BusoniArtist: Marc-André Hamelin (piano)Album: Busoni Late Piano MusicLabel: Hyperion CDA67951Title: Violin Concerto No. 3 ‘I Ching’ – The Eight Kua (Trigrams); i. WaterComposer: Larry SitskyArtist: Jan Sedivka, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-GeeAlbum: Australian ConcertosLabel: Australian Music Unit AMU4Title: Arch (Fantasia No. 4)Composer: Larry SitskyArtist: Larry Sitsky (piano)Album: Contemporary Australian PianoLabel: Move M3066Title: Blue and Red HorsesComposer: Adriene LenkerArtist: The WesterliesAlbum: Songbook Vol. 1Label: The Westerlies MusicTitle: Tifa’s ThemeComposer: Nobuo UematsuArtist: The 8-Bit Big Band, Chloe Rowlands (flugelhorn)Album: Album 4 – Game ChangerLabel: 8-Bit Title: LaurieComposer: Chloe RowlandsArtist: The WesterliesAlbum: Wherein Lies the GoodLabel: The Westerlies MusicTechnical production by Emrys Cronin, Isabella Tropiano, and John JacobsThe Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country

Romano Crevici has been playing violins made by Harry Vatiliotis for decades. Now drawing to the end of their respective careers, Harry has made one final instrument, which will be Romano's last violin too. The process, challenged by sore joints, thin skin, and Harry's caring responsibilities to the love of his life Maria, have been captured in a moving film called The Last Violin by Carla Thackrah. Romano and Carla are in the studio with the titular violin.Andrew Robertson's The Journeyman Suite is music about making music—documenting the realities and career arc of a jobbing musician. Big band music presents big possibilities for colour and texture and the composer tells Andrew Ford about writing for this intergenerational band, and why he added a string quartet.The Last Violin is being screened on SBS on Sunday 15 September and will be available on SBS On Demand after that.You can contact Romano Crivici here if you own an instrument made by Harry Vatiliotis. AR Big Band's The Journeyman Suite is out now on ABC Jazz. Romano Crivici and Carla Thackrah with the last violin.Music in this program:Title: String Quartet No. 4 ‘Undercurrents’Artist: Elektra String QuartetComposer: Romano CriviciAlbum: Ebb & FlowLabel: ABC Classics ABCL0015DTitle: Let it Go Artist: Allie OsborneComposer: Romano CriviciAlbum: The Vatiliotis Collection: music from The Last ViolinLabel: No-Self RecordsTitle: Ecstasy of CloudsArtist: Elektra String QuartetComposer: Romano CriviciAlbum: Flat EarthLabel: ABC Classics 4657042Titles: Blow; Torment; The one less travelled by...; The BalladierArtist: AR Big Band & String QuartetComposer: Andrew RobertsonAlbum: The Journeyman Suite Label: ABC Jazz ABCJ0031DTitle: Symphony for Big Band; 3rd Movement Artist: AR Big BandComposer: Andrew RobertsonAlbum: The Journeyman Suite Label: ABC Jazz ABCJ0031DTechnical production by Emrys Cronin, Isabella Tropiano, and John JacobsThe Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country