Episodes of City of London Sinfonia

Artist to Artist: Alexandra Wood and Cheryl Frances-Hoad

Oct 28th, 2021 18m 52s

British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad talks to Alexandra Wood about her new dramatic song cycle, 'Scenes from the Wild', set to lyrics by musician and librettist Amanda Holden. They talk about how many books Cheryl and Amanda went through before

Artist to Artist: Alexandra Wood and Donghoon Shin

Oct 18th, 2021 18m 15s

Alexandra Wood talks to South Korean composer Donghoon Shin about his creative process and inspiration for his new work, My Shadow, co-commissioned by CLS and the Heidelberger Frühling. Donghoon also talks about his love for Mahler, Elgar, jazz

Artist to Artist: Alexandra Wood and Huw Watkins

Oct 7th, 2021 15m 11s

Alexandra Wood talks to composer Huw Watkins about his new piece, 'Five Duos', written in celebration of our 50th anniversary. 'Five Duos' will be premiered by Alexandra Wood (violin) and Katherine 'Waffy' Spencer (clarinet) in our 'Origin' ser

Lockdown Chats: Alexandra Wood With Fiona Lambert

Dec 18th, 2020 26m

In her last #Lockdownchats of the year, Alexandra Wood celebrates our RPS Awards win with the mastermind of our participation programme, Fiona Lambert (Director of Participation). They discuss our award-winning Sound Young Minds project and wha

Lockdown Chats: Alexandra Wood With Katherine Spencer

Dec 11th, 2020 29m 21s

During lockdown two, Alexandra Wood caught up with our Principal Clarinet, Katherine Spencer, to see what she's been getting up to. Katherine ('Waffy') talks about the benefits of music and being part of our participation projects, working in c

Lockdown Chats: Alexandra Wood With Gawain Hewitt

Nov 18th, 2020 29m 36s

In Lockdown Chats with Alexandra Wood, Gawain Hewitt talks about our Sound Young Minds project at Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School and our RPS Awards nomination, his joyous experiences at Headway East London, and the impact music has on men

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Brett Dean

Jul 24th, 2020 32m 48s

Brett Dean chats to Alexandra Wood about his love for the live aspect of music, whether composing, conducting or performing viola; about getting into composing, directing from the viola seat and transitioning from a performing musician to compo

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Ann Lovatt

Jul 17th, 2020 23m 5s

Alexandra Wood chats to Ann Lovatt (Violin) about combining live music and mindfulness in our Mindful Music sessions, how she got into practising mindfulness and how it's helped her during lockdown.You can watch our Mindful Music sessions on

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Genevieve Lacey

Jul 10th, 2020 22m 42s

Alexandra Wood talks to recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey in the sixth of our 'Lockdown chats'. They chat about our 'Absolute Bird' collaboration in 2019, all things recorder, the process of commissioning new compositions and the importance of

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Ursula Leveaux

Jul 3rd, 2020 19m 44s

In the fifth of our 'Lockdown chats', Ursula Leveaux (Principal Bassoon) chats to Alexandra Wood about making the most of the quiet Lake District during lockdown, how she got into playing the Baroque bassoon and her enjoyment of our project-bas

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Dobrinka Tabakova

Jun 26th, 2020 19m 49s

Alexandra Wood caught up with composer Dobrinka Tabakova in the fourth of her 'Lockdown chats', reminiscing on performing 'Centuries of Meditations' in our Cathedrals Tour last October. Dobrinka also gives a glimpse into the life of a composer

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Joely Koos

Jun 19th, 2020 23m 27s

In the third of her 'Lockdown chats', Alexandra Wood talks to Joely Koos (Co-Principal Cello) about what it's like preparing for her Comfortable Classical at Home episodes live on Facebook and being able to spend more time with her family durin

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Mark Paine

Jun 12th, 2020 16m 43s

Alexandra Wood talks to Co-Principal Horn Mark Paine in the second of her 'Lockdown chats'. Mark would usually be performing in all the operas in the Opera Holland Park Season in May-August, so Alex caught up with him to see what he's missing a

Lockdown chats: Alexandra Wood with Roderick Williams

Jun 5th, 2020 19m 2s

In the first of her 'Lockdown chats', Leader and Creative Director Alexandra Wood talks to singer and composer Roderick Williams OBE about what he's missing and filling his time with during lockdown.Credit excerpts: 'The Lark Ascending' (Vaug

CLS podcast: Ruth Padel discusses Scheherazade

Nov 22nd, 2019 14m 41s

Ruth Padel talks to Arna Margrét Jónsdóttir (Marketing Assistant) and Elaine Baines (Chief Operating Officer) about her original poem, based on the frame story of 'One Thousand and One Nights', written specially for 'Scheherazade: A retelling f

Hanan al-Shaykh discusses Scheherazade

Nov 22nd, 2019 24m 23s

Hanan al-Shaykh talks to Arna Margrét Jónsdóttir (Marketing Assistant) and Elaine Baines (Chief Operating Officer) about her relationship with the stories of 'One Thousand and One Nights' and her role in 'Scheherazade: A retelling for our times

Genevieve Lacey talks Absolute Bird

Apr 29th, 2019 4m 19s

On Friday 3 May 2019, international recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey performs with City of London Sinfonia in ‘Absolute Bird: Sounds of the Outback’ at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Here’s what she had to say ahead of our performanc

CLS Presents Absolute Bird

Apr 2nd, 2019 20m 28s

CEO Matthew Swann talks about all things birdsong and nature, and how composers from all periods have been fascinated by it, including Hollis Taylor—whose music our Absolute Bird series is named after.View Absolute Bird series: http://bit.ly/

CLS Office Chats with the participation team: Part 7, The impact of music

Mar 26th, 2019 3m 17s