In Tune Highlights

Hear our experts’ many tips and tricks for warming up – from practising in Italian, to talking in a higher voice, and why basses can enjoy longer lie-ins before morning rehearsals than sopranos. Our experts vocal trainer Mary King, counter-tenor Iestyn Davies, soprano Angel Blue and baritone Roderick Williams explain all, in this episode of Singers on Singing, part of the Classical Voice season on BBC Radio 3.

Why is singing in Italian like riding a racehorse? Why is French such a tricky language to sing in? And what's with all those German consonants? Find out more from our experts baritone Roderick Williams, counter-tenor Iestyn Davies and soprano Angel Blue, in this episode of Singers on Singing, part of the Classical Voice season on BBC Radio 3.

How do you deal with an instrument you can’t see, only imagine? How can you practice throwing your voice? And why is counter-tenor technique akin to that of yodelling? Hear tips and tricks on technique from our experts baritone Roderick Williams, counter-tenor Iestyn Davies and soprano Angel Blue, in this episode of Singers on Singing, part of the Classical Voice season on BBC Radio 3.

On Thursday 11th June the saxophonist and jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman passed away. In this podcast saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch talks to Suzy Klein about Coleman's great legacy, and how he himself was influenced by Coleman's revolutionary free jazz style.

Suzy talks to The Sixteen's Harry Christophers.

Multi award winning conductor Jose Serebrier talks to Suzy Klein ahead of his concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall in London, which includes a selection of Dvorak Slavonic Dances, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and The Last Paradise by Xiaogang Ye with violinist Cho-Liang Lin.

This week Edward Gardner prepares to conduct his final production at the English National Opera as their Music Director, a new production of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. Ahead of the show, Edward talks to Suzy Klein about his time at ENO, how he's grown as a conductor and what he still hopes to do achieve in the future.

Suzy talks to conductor Philippe Herreweghe, one of the world’s leading choral conductors, about the delights of Gesualdo madrigals, and of the great inspiration he got from early music pioneers Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt.

Composer and Master of the Queen's Music Judith Weir talks to Suzy Klein. Having just triumped at this year's Ivor Novello Awards, Judith also has a brand new piece called 'Good Morning, Midnight' which receives its world premiere at the Wigmore Hall in London this Saturday.

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, Anne Enright, talks to Sean Rafferty at the Hay Festival about returning to the west coast of Ireland to research her latest book, The Green Road.

National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke talks to Sean Rafferty at the Hay Festival about writing in English and in Welsh, the possibility of being inspired by a tea bag, and on listening to Bach at David's Cathedral.

Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman talks to Sean Rafferty at the Hay Festival about her latest book Love Hurts, a collection of short love stories, and about writing for young people.

Queen of Shops Mary Portas talks to Sean Rafferty at the Hay Festival about her latest book Shop Girl: A Memoir, and discovering her passion for design whilst growing up in the 1970s, which included making her own fancy dress costumes.

Author of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, Alexander McCall Smith, talks to Sean Rafferty at the Hay Festival about his recent book The Novel Habits of Happiness, and about winning a pig as a prize for his latest work of comic fiction, Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party.

Daniel Barenboim talks to Georgia Mann about his newly designed piano, built specially ahead of his Schubert recital series at the Royal Festival Hall. He describes why the piano is so radically different from others, and how he came to have the idea.

Sean Rafferty talks to comedian and Carry On legend Jim Dale about his varied career. He tells Sean about his work on Broadway, his songwriting, voicing the 400+ voices in the US Harry Potter series, and does impressions of Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Williams.

Violinist Christian Tetzlaff talks to Suzy Klein about his preference for his modern German violin over Strads, and how it feels to play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto for the 301st time.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti talks to Suzy Klein about the latest Ten Pieces project, which is set to roll out across secondary schools shortly. Nicola talks passionately about the importance of music education, engaging young audiences, and reveals more about the ten works on this year's list, including Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending.

Nigel Kennedy on what it means to be musician, bridging musical boundaries and his upcoming collaboration with Oxford Philomusica

Violinist Tasmin Little on her passion for English music, rarely-played music and her upcoming recording with BBC Philharmonic and Andrew Davis.

Conductor Masaaki Suzuki talks to Sean Rafferty, ahead of a concert in St John's Smith Square with the Bach Collegium Japan. When Suzuki first suggested recording a complete cycle of Bach's cantatas to the director of the BIS record label, his proposal was met with "uncontrollable laughter". However, hearing Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan won the record executive over, and the rest is history. Suzuki tells Sean Rafferty how he was drawn to Bach, why vocal training in Japan makes Japanese singers ideal for his music, and, now that the Bach cycle is complete, and what the future holds beyond the music of the great master.

Conductor Valery Gergiev on the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition taking place in Moscow and St Petersburg June-July this year, and his thoughts on who should become the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's new chief conductor.

Mike Leigh, the revered British director behind the likes of Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and last year's Mr Turner, talks to Sean Rafferty about his exciting new venture in to the world of opera with a brand new ENO production of Gilbert and Sullivan's classic Pirates of Penzance. Joined by the opera's conductor David Parry, Leigh talks about how he was finally convinced to make an opera, his love of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the daring act of going for an entirely straight and authentic production, in tribute to what he sees as the genius of the two men.

Violinist Isabelle Faust talks about playing chamber music, and about the greatness of the Brahms Violin Concerto.

Tenor Stuart Skelton and soprano Rebecca von Lipinski talk to Sean Rafferty ahead of their appearance as Florestan and Leonore in a special performance of Beethoven's only opera Fidelio this Friday (8th May) with the BBC Philharmonic at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

Semyon Bychkov, fresh from winning the best conductor prize at the International Opera Awards, talks to Suzy Klein about his upcoming concerts at the Royal Academy of Music and with the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as his visit to the BBC PROMS this season with the Vienna Philharmonic and an early passion for volleyball.

Singer-songwriter Olivia Chaney talks to Suzy about her influences, from Purcell to Joni Mitchell, and the release of her debut album, 'The Longest River'.

Serbian-born pianist Ivan Ilic on Debussy, Scriabin, and watering his plants.

Violinist David Garrett discusses life on the road, reaching new audiences and the hard work required in building a fan base.

One of the world's greatest percussionists, Dame Evelyn Glennie, on how to listen, her project commissioning new music for percussionists, and performing a world premiere for a new instrument, the Aluphone, at the 2015 Proms as part of her 50th birthday celebrations.

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on his complete cycle of Beethoven piano concertos at the 2015 Proms, marking the grand finale of his 'Beethoven Journey' with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Violinist Jack Liebeck and Professor Brian Cox talk to Suzy Klein about the nature of time, the universe & everything ahead of the upcoming Oxford May Music festival which starts next week. Brian Cox will give two lectures on time at the festival which will be followed by Jack Liebeck's Trio Dali and clarinettist Paul Dean performing Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time.

Adrian Chandler, violinist and director of the acclaimed early music ensemble La Serenissima, talks to Sean Rafferty about reviving the Violino in Tromba Marina (a 3 stringed metallic sounding violin) favoured by Vivaldi and constructed and researched by Chandler himself. Adrian will be playing the instrument in a special La Serenissima concert at Cadogan Hall this weekend.

Conductor Omer Meir Wellber on working as Daniel Barenboim's assistant, mimicking other conductors, playing the accordion, charity work and his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Conductor of the mighty New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, joins Sean to talk about the orchestra's residency at the Barbican, and the all-consuming demands made on an American Musical Director.

Cellist Matthew Barley talks to Sean Rafferty about HK Gruber's hugely challenging cello concerto which he will perform at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall this Friday (17th April) with the BBC Philharmonic and Gruber himself conducting.

Conductor Paavo Jarvi is currently in the UK to continue his great Nielsen Symphony Cycle with the Philharmonia Orchestra, performing Symphony No.4 throughout the week. Paavo talks to Sean Rafferty about the greatness of Nielsen's works, plus the challenges of his new CD of Shostakovich Cantatas, including the the political impact of peforming these patriotic Soviet pieces in Estonia recently.

Star trumpeter Alison Balsom on touring Bramwell Tovey’s piece 'Songs of the Paradise Saloon' with London Philharmonic Orchestra and the need to practice the natural trumpet

Composer James Macmillan talks to Sean Rafferty about his St Luke Passion and the relevance of Passions today. James himself will be conducting his St Luke Passion at King's College, Cambridge live on BBC Radio 3 on Good Friday at 7.30 before the piece receives its London premiere at the Barbican Hall on Easter Sunday.

As In Tune reveals the nominations for this year's RPS Music Awards, Sean Rafferty talks to tenor Mark Padmore who is nominated in the Singer category alongside baritone Christian Gerhaher and soprano Nine Stemme. Mark talks about his current role in Bach's St Matthew Passion, performed on period instruments by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Pianist Jonathan Biss talks to Suzy Klein about his life-long obsession with Beethoven, which has inspired not just his recordings but also his writing and a new online course he runs from the Curtis Institute. Jonathan recently released his latest recording of Beethoven on his own JB label.

Angela Hewitt drops in to the In Tune studio to play Bach as well as her new venture, Scarlatti. She talks to Suzy Klein about her upcoming Masterclasses as part of the 'It's All About Piano' festival and looks back on 20 years of Bach recordings for Hyperion.

Acclaimed Canadian pianist Louis Lortie talks to Suzy Klein about how he approaches playing Chopin, and also about his next recital of Liszt and Beethoven.

Legendary Irish mezzo-soprano, Ann Murray, talks to Suzy Klein about her farewell recital album, recorded with pianist Malcolm Martineau and members of their families.

Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley and pianist Julius Drake discuss the unique combination of styles in the songs of Liszt and their working relationship spanning the last 25 years

Suzy Klein is joined in our Salford studios by the Quebecois folk group Le Vent du Nord whose performances capture 'the energy and mirth of a Saturday night kitchen party'!

Two huge names from the jazz world, Courtney Pine (playing bass clarinet) and pianist Zoe Rahman are in the In Tune studio talking about their new album 'Song (the Ballad Book)', a stripped back and intimate collection of standards. Courtney and Zoe talk to Sean Rafferty all about how they started working together and the process of choosing the works for the album.

Sean Rafferty with ex-Colin Davis pupil and rising star conductor Ben Gernon, who is about to take the Camerata Salzburg on a tour of the UK.

Pianist Jeremy Denk talks to Sean Rafferty ahead of his concert with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields at Cadogan Hall in London. Jeremy talks about trading a life of chemistry for the piano, winning the prestigious MacArthur Genius Award and the composers he most admires.

Kurt Weill's opera The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny opens at the Royal Opera House soon - singers Kurt Streit and Christine Rice take a break from rehearsals to join Sean Rafferty to talk about their characters, and how mezzo-sopranos are 'quite used to playing hookers and whores'...