The conductors’ orchestra

In the British Isles, one of the strongest examples of community music making can be found in brass bands. Their proud tradition goes back almost 200 years, and their survival has never been more nece

There’s a trepidatious growl from the contra-bassoon. Soon, it is joined by French horns, strings and timpani; the sound rumbles, snowballs – and then: abrupt silence. The piano sings into the stillne

When the first pianos made it to India around the 18th century, during the heyday of the East India Company, their usage was confined to British colonisers and a small minority of aristocratic Indians

Some years ago, Colin Matthews – a lifelong Londoner – bought himself a composing retreat on the Somerset/ Dorset borders and half-seriously confessed to fears that the view of cows from his windows ‘

At the end of the film Mr. Holland’s Opus, Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss), an elementary school music teacher for 30 years, finds his subject cut from the curriculum along with the rest of the arts

The unconventional instrumentation favoured by Tortoise is an indicator of how many different lineups have always jostled for space under the jazz umbrella. The national treasure that is The Pete Alle