Music Matters Folgen

Tom Service visits Chicago to talk to two major figures at the heart of the city's musical and cultural life: cellist Yo-Yo Ma and conductor Riccardo Muti.Whether as concert soloist, as founder of Silkroad Ensemble which explores musical traditions across the world, or through his collaborations with communities in Chicago, Yo-Yo Ma has consistently pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a musician, driven by his desire to explore the relationship between culture and the human experience. Although not a Chicagoan, Ma has had a big impact on the city through his performances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Riccardo Muti, and his work with the orchestra's outreach department, the Negaunee Music Institute. Riccardo Muti is famed as a conductor of Verdi and became Music Director at the orchestra in 2010 where he has continued his plight to engage people of all ages and from all backgrounds with classical music. Like Ma, Muti sees music as more than just entertainment - he is focused on making connections through music, both in his work in the schools, communities and prisons of Chicago and on his 'Roads of Friendship' project, collaborating with orchestras and musicians in conflict zones.Tom talks to both about their musical lives, Chicago and the role music and culture can play in helping our understanding of the world and of each other. And 85 years after the premiere of her first symphony at Chicago Symphony Orchestra, we hear about the inspirational figure of Florence Price - Chicago-based composer and the first black American woman to have a symphony played by a major orchestra. Tom visits the Center for Black Music Research to meet Melanie Zeck and talks to composer and musician Renèe Baker about her work with the Chicago Sinfonietta and The Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, discovering how Florence is just one part of a history that needs to be told and a legacy that needs to be fulfilled.

Tom Service talks to Christopher Purves, one of the most theatrically and musically vivid bass-baritones on opera stages around the world. Christopher shares his love of Handel, his need to communicate to audiences, discusses how to connect with the darker characters of the repertoire, including The Protector, a role he created for George Benjamin's acclaimed opera, Written on Skin, and talks of his current project, Golaud in Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande.Michael Volpe from Opera Holland Park and Polly Graham, Artistic Director of Longborough Festival Opera join Tom in the studio, to discover if Summer Festival opera companies can advance the art-form, as well as serve the audiences who come for the experience, and Antony Feeny, economist and researcher discusses the business model of these festivals. Music and Maths - Tom explores the spaghetti-like interconnectedness of these two ancient disciplines with Eli Maor, whose new book 'Music By The Numbers' shows how musical ideas have inspired mathematicians over the ages, and Eugenia Cheng, mathematician and musician, who sees a musical-like creativity in maths, and a logic in all classical composition.The Yorkshire Young Sinfonia became the first youth orchestra to play concerts reading their scores from tablets. Some professional orchestras use this technology too. Tom finds out what are the benefits and limitations surrounding digital technology on the concert platform.

Tom Service meets American composer, and multi-media artist Laurie Anderson to find how music and language interacts in her work to create stories and define who we are which are just two of the themes running through her new book 'All the Things I Lost in the Flood', and her new album, 'Landfall', with the Kronos Quartet: projects born from her experiences of Hurricane Sandy which hit New York city in October 2012. Music writer and broadcaster Stephen Johnson discusses his new book 'How Shostakovich Changed my Mind' which explores his struggles with depression and how Shostakovich's tempestuous symphonies and soulful string quartets helped him and the composer's fellow Russians in the darkest of hours. There's a report from Moscow on the news that the British Council has to cease operations in Russia, and, Tom meets one of the most exciting young artists in New York today: Tyondai Braxton. In advance of the premiere of his new work 'Telekinesis', Tyondai shares his thoughts on electronic music, deep exposure to Morton Feldman, and how Stravinsky, Varese and other 20th century composers could be better taught in colleges and universities.Produced by Richard Denison.