Composers - What planet are they on?

Available for over a year

Presented by Tom Service Tom talks to the Grammy-Award American composer Joan Tower, who turns 80 this month and who's crafted one of the most successful careers in music in her country, which include also the roles of piano performer and teacher. As Gustav Holst's masterwork reaches its first centenary, we take a look at the new Planets, a project mixing music and science creating 8 new compositions to be performed by the Ligeti String Quartet at Planetarium around the UK. Among the composers included are Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Deborah Pritchard and Samuel Bordoli. Also, a portrait of the African-American composer Ulysses Kay as part of our new Hidden Voices series, and the critic Fiona Maddocks and academic Erik Levi join Tom to meet the philosopher and composer Roger Scruton, to discuss his latest book, 'Music as an Art' which touches on subjects such as the historical importance of Modernism and the moral dimension of music.