The Aldeburgh Festival Podcast

In the final episode of the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival podcast, our guests offer their advice to a young person starting out in their career, and we hear about some of their hopes and dreams for the future. Presented by Tom McKinney Edited by Matt Jolly Original theme music by Aldeburgh Young Musician, Laila Arafah

In this episode you’ll hear directly from the stars themselves about what to expect from their Aldeburgh Festival performances. We’ll also get a window into how they are preparing. For some, the journey to the 2023 Festival began several years ago... Presented by BBC Radio 3’s Tom McKinney Edited by Matt Jolly Original theme music by Aldeburgh Young Musician, Laila Arafah

Over the next few weeks we are counting down to the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival with the help of some of its star performers, artists, composers and conductors. In this episode we ask our guests about the importance of their surroundings – the sights and sounds of their creative spaces, the bleak beauty of Aldeburgh, and a thread through this year’s Festival: the enormity of the cosmos. Presented by BBC Radio 3’s Tom McKinney Edited by Matt Jolly Original theme music by Aldeburgh Young Musician, Laila Arafah

Anna Thorvaldsdottir is one of the most extraordinary composers working today. She was born near Reykjavik in Iceland, and her orchestral pieces often evoke and explore the massive and dramatic landscapes of her home country. In this conversation, Anna talks about her love of orchestral sound – her ‘sonic landscapes’ – and her fruitful collaborations with contemporary ensembles. During the podcast we hear clips from her brilliant orchestral work Catamorphosis (Iceland Symphony, conducted by Daniel Bjarnason, forthcoming on Sono Luminus) and a chamber piece, originally performed with a light installation, In the Light of Air (International Contemporary Ensemble, Sono Luminus). With grateful thanks to Wise Classical and Sono Luminus for their permission to use these extracts. You can hear and see a movement from In the Light of Air with light installation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pid-bOD1ux0

Over the next few weeks we are counting down to the 2023 Aldeburgh Festival with the help of some of its star performers, artists, composers and conductors. What are they looking forward to, how are they preparing, and what does the Aldeburgh Festival mean to them? Presented by BBC Radio 3’s Tom McKinney Edited by Matt Jolly Original theme music by Aldeburgh Young Musician, Laila Arafah