The Music Show

British Japanese composer Ben Nobuto's Hallelujah Sim. opened the BBC Proms in 2024, garnering a roaring, standing ovation (a rare feat for a world premiere). His musical vocabulary, which marries precise chamber music sensibilities with video game sound effects and electronic multitracking, is unique in the universe of contemporary composition. He joins Andy to unpack his composition process and the ideas behind a new composition called Hope Spiral. 
Black Country, New Road brings together six musicians, each with their own style and influences, and blends them all together on every song. What could have been chaos instead became some of the most critically acclaimed music of the decade. Bassist and co-vocalist Tyler Hyde shares the surprising turns that have led the band to where they are today.
Black Country, New Road tour dates are here
Title: The Big SpinArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune
Title: Hallelujah SimArtist: BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony OrchestraComposer: Ben NobutoLabel: Independent Release
Title: TrioArtist: Ellie Blamires, Mikołaj Piszczorowicz, Ben Nobuto Composer: Ben NobutoLabel: Independent Release
Title: Hope SpiralArtist: Ben Nobuto, Ben Goldscheider, Brother Tree SoundComposer: Ben NobutoAlbum: Hope SpiralLabel: NMC Recordings
Title: Echoes of the HeartArtist: Aaron ShawComposer: Aaron ShawAlbum: And So It IsLabel: Leaving
Title: BestiesArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune
Title: MaryArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune
Title: Up SongArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Live At Bush HallLabel: Ninja Tune
Title: Salem SistersArtist: Black Country, New RoadComposer: Black Country, New RoadAlbum: Forever HowlongLabel: Ninja Tune
Title: Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24; Pt. 1, BerceuseArtist: Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Camerata BernComposer: György KurtágAlbum: Maria Mater MeretrixLabel: Alpha
The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country Country
Technical production by Emrys Cronin

Carlo Gesualdo was a Renaissance composer, a prince, and a murderer. His sacred music, including his Tenebrae Responsoria, is a strange collection of settings full of dissonance and chromatic moving parts. AJ America is the Artistic Director of Luminescence Chamber Singers, and she joins Andy to talk about how the gory details of Gesualdo's life translate to the music.
Blinky Bill is a Kenyan musician and producer who, as part of the group Just A Band, drove the development of alternative music in Nairobi and Kenya more broadly. His music draws from all over Africa and the diaspora, and he's about to come to Australia where he's performing at WOMADelaide... and you'll be able to see The Music Show in action there too!

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are one of the great couples of Americana, with a catalogue that stretches back decades. Along the way they've put their stamp on the classics of American folk, and created more than a few classics of their own. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Time (The Revelator), they're heading back to Australia to show off their latest collection of new material: Woodland. They performed material from both albums live in the Music Show studios. 
Raphaël Pichon leads Ensemble Pygmalion, a French historically informed performance group which, unusually, is a choir and orchestra operating as one ensemble. They’re making their Australian debut at the Adelaide Festival with three programmes - including Monteverdi and Bach and, after 400 years, the Australian debut of Rossi's Orfeo.
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' tour dates are available here.
And Ensemble Pygmalion are performing Bach, Monteverdi, and Rossi at the Adelaide Festival.
Title: Requiem in D minor, KyrieArtist: Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon, Ying FangComposer: Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAlbum: Mozart: RequiemLabel: Harmonia Mundi
Title: Empty Trainload of SkyArtist: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: WoodlandLabel: Acony Records
Title: HashtagArtist: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: WoodlandLabel: Acony Records
Title: Everything Is FreeArtist: Gillian WelchComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: Time (The Revelator) Label: Acony Records
Title: Missa Brevis in F major; II. GloriaArtist: Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro, Sydney Fierro, Magid El-Bushra, Eugénie Warnier, Raphaël Pichon, Ensemble PygmalionComposer: Johann Sebastian BachAlbum: JS Bach: Missæ BrevesLabel: Alpha
Title: Hymnus "Ave maris stella"Artist: Raphaël Pichon, Ensemble PygmalionComposer: Claudio MonteverdiAlbum: Monteverdi: Vespro della beata VergineLabel: Harmonia Mundi
Title: Extract from the Tenebrae settings for Maundy ThursdayArtist: Luminescence Chamber SingersComposer: Carlo GesualdoCourtesy of Luminescence
The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country, and Turrbal and Yuggera Country
Technical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor and Steve Fieldhouse

Lachlan Skipworth, one of Australia's most beautiful compositional voices, has a very unusual new double concerto - for trumpet and clarinet - set to premiere with Omega Ensemble. He tells Andy how a series of 'joyful and uplifting' commissions added a new string to his bow.
And Thomas William Smith & Mara Schwerdtfeger from the ambient collective Worlds Only share why they prefer to exist in the moment, creating live shows that are full of pieces of structured improvisation that might never be heard again. 
Omega Ensembles performance dates are available here
Worlds Only performance details here
Music in this program:
Title: Tarmac in the ProvinceArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release
Title: Altiora Peto, Concerto for Trumpet and Strings; I. Moderato ritmico – Adagio – Tempo primoArtist: David Elton & Sydney String VirtuosiComposer: Lachlan SkipworthAlbum: Altiora PetoLabel: ABC Classics
Title: Quintet for Bass Recorder and String Quartet; II. TranquilloArtist: Genevieve Lacey & Australian String QuartetComposer: Lachlan SkipworthAlbum: Altiora PetoLabel: ABC Classics
Title: The Night Sky FallArtist: Ashley William Smith, Louise Devenish, Emily Green-ArmytageComposer: Lachlan SkipworthAlbum: Lachlan Skipworth: Chamber WorksLabel: Navona Records
Title: Song for Sad TimesArtist: GanavyaComposer: GanavyaAlbum: NilamLabel: Leiter
Title: SanctuaryArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release
Title: TabbedArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release
Title: Meteoric ChatArtist: Worlds OnlyComposer: Worlds OnlyAlbum: Raw & Hot & UncutLabel: Independent release
Title: The Bells And The BirdsArtist: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsComposer: Gillian Welch & David RawlingsAlbum: WoodlandLabel: Acony Records
The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country
Technical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor

Andrea Keller is not only a pianist, composer, bandleader and educator, she's also the Jazz Ambassador at this year's Clarence Jazz Festival, celebrating its 30th year. She joins Andy to talk about creating a web of collaborators in her Transients series. 
Ian Thompson's book, Synths, Sax and Situationists, examines the music of the French underground that began with the Paris 'events' of May 1968. For the next decade, bands such as Daevid Allen's Gong, Red Noise and Heldon were sometimes overtly political, but always subversive. Andy talks to Ian Thompson about the times and the music.