Claire M Singer, Harry Christophers

Available for over a year

Tom Service meets composer and experimental organist Claire M Singer at the London venue Union Chapel where she has been Music Director of the organ since 2012. Claire demonstrates how she uses chopsticks, straws and the stops of the organ to create her slowly-evolving and hypnotic pieces, and she talks about how she finds inspiration in the mountains and landscapes of her native Scotland. Conductor and founder of The Sixteen Harry Christophers joins Tom as he prepares to take the choir on the road once again for this year’s choral pilgrimage, featuring music by Lassus, Josquin and Casulana. He reflects on 45 years of The Sixteen and discusses the current appetite for choral music and his role in connecting music, musicians and audiences. Archaeologist and musician Graeme Lawson visits the studio with replica instruments in hand to discuss his new book “Sound Tracks: Uncovering Our Musical Past” in which he examines musical instruments from around the world dating back thousands of years in order to tell the history of our relationship with music. And Tom talks to Suhail Khoury, Honorary President of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music which has centres in Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nablus. They discuss the current situation for the teachers and students of the conservatory in Gaza, the damage to the building itself and the workshops being provided for children in refugee camps as a way of offering respite and hope.