Music Works

1.15A - Classical music: the dark side! A singer tells all.

In this two part episode, soprano, Julia Kogan, raises a number of thorny issues: Is there a true meritocracy for artists? The challenge of programming new music, and how the current experience of the concert hall or the opera house can intimidate new audiences. In the second part “Let’s talk remedies” Julia and Katie go on to look at these vexed questions and discuss some solutions that would improve the classical music experience for performers and audiences alike. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.14: Stepping into your arts career.

Anna Kent and Rebecca Milford speak about their experiences leaving university and the conservatoire, and entering the professional world of the classical music industry. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.13: Sexism and sexual harassment in the music industry

A recent MU survey revealed that 48% of musicians have been sexually harassed at work. Naomi Pohl, Deputy General Secretary of the Musicians'  Union, talks to Katie about the problems of discrimination and harassment musicians can face and how the Union has created their online Safe Space facility to help victims report incidents in confidence and receive the support they need. Anyone who believes they have been the victim of inappropriate sexual or discriminatory conduct can contact Safe Space via the Musicians' Union website: https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/safespace or by emailing safespace@theMU.org If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.12: Redefining the concert space

Hannah Fiddy, co-founder of Alternative Classical, talks about her work producing concerts in non-traditional settings and how the future requires a radical rethink of the conventions of the classical music performance. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.11: Why music competitions don't work and how to fix them

"We started with the dream but now we are paving the future." Anna Ouspenskaya describes how she and three other musicians launched Virtual Concert Halls, an online platform for performance opportunities and engagement with their students in Washington DC, and how that vision has created Sound Espressivo, the first major international online competition for musicians around the world. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.10: why we need to start singing again.

Tom Appleton of the Come and Sing Company talks about the challenges of running an arts business under Covid, the value of singing, how schools need to understand that it's not only safe, but essential for children's wellbeing, and what it was like performing "A Kind of Magic Flute" with 700  children in the Albert Hall. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.9: Insights from an insider - Michael Poll on programming in the arts, & rhetoric in music

Guitarist, conductor and artistic programmer Michael Poll sheds light on the music promoter’s perspective. He and Katie also look at the importance of record labels and his commitment to interpreting Bach for 7-string guitar. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.8: When can you call yourself a composer?

Pianist, composer and audio-visual artist Nina Danon talks about finding supportive spaces as a female composer and performer, and developing her creative practice as a woman and a parent. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.7: Cultured Communities: arts, communities and how we fund them.

Ben Cooper of the Fabian Society talks to Katie and Margaret about his new report into public funding of the arts, and how the current model entrenches inequality between London and the regions. Using the examples of Hull City of Culture 2017 and Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019, he examines how arts and culture was one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy valued at £111 billion in 2018, and how arts and culture can contribute to economic, social, and physical and mental resilience for all our communities. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls

1.6: Using the difficulty - how musicians are finding opportunities in challenging times.

Katie talks to pianist, Alisdair Hogarth, about the challenges and opportunities of both creating and presenting music online. If you enjoy this conversation, please subscribe, check out our other great episodes, and even better leave us a review. You can also follow us on social media and sign up to our mailing list at www.polyphonyarts.com/mailing-list  for updates and news about Music Works and Polyphony Arts. Producer: Virtual Concert Halls