AND WE'RE BACK! Duncan Ward & I have met before and we had a very light-hearted, open and extremely honest chat. I heard how a score of his left open in a dressing room changed his life, & I heard how a language barrier once caused a case of mistaken identity! Askonas Holt

I'd never met Carlos Miguel Prieto - we seemed to hit it off immediately with such a lovely range of topics covered. We discussed how it is important to sometimes "come up through the ranks", and I discovered which famous billionaire he shared a university class with!

CONCERT 870 - Tonight, 19:30, St.James, Piccadilly, London. My dear friends of Corinthian Chamber Orchestra play Beethoven Leonore No.3, Barber Biolin Concerto with our superb soloist, Julian Gil Rodriguez, and Brahms Symphony No.2. Hope to see some of you there!

A record-breaking week for the podcast - the episode with Toby Purser released last Sunday has had more individual listeners in one week than any other episode & more downloads in one week than any other episode, by a very long way indeed! Royal College of Music

I enjoyed chatting with Thomas Søndergård - he is definitely someone who thinks a lot about what we do! We discussed how to cope with conducting your own orchestral colleagues and one of his choices in answering Q.6 prompted me to relive a frightening concert memory! Royal Scottish National Orchestra Minnesota Orchestra

Marios Papadopoulos was a joy to chat with, v.honest and self-effacing! I heard about his early struggles trying to promote his concerts with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, and how a childhood encounter with a razor led to a very interesting answer to Question 1!

I really enjoyed this interview! @baldurbronniman and I got along instantly and we seem to have very similar views. We had a serious discussion about the need for orchestras, and a chat about conducting with or without a baton broke down in fits of laughter! Intermusica

Jan Latham-Koenig has had a long & distinguished career all across the globe & many stories to tell. I found out how close he came to becoming a politician, and how he managed to stage 3 different opera productions in Chile all whilst his orchestra was on strike! Felsner Artists

Johannes Schlaefli is one of the foremost conducting teachers today. A fascinating conversation with a v.warm and honest gentleman. We discovered that when we teach conducting, we both use the very same metaphor, and I get very jealous about where he lives!

.Cath Larsen-Maguire and I had much in common and hit it off immediately. She was frank, open & a joy to chat with. We both agree that conducting offstage is frightening, and I discovered how a chance meeting in a Berlin pub, & one beer mat in particular, changed her career! Victoria Rowsell

Boian Videnoff and I last met 17 years ago yet this felt like we just carried on from where we left off! We discussed the worldview of The Arts, and I discovered a potential pitfall when switching between conducting off an iPad versus an old-fashioned paper score! MannheimPhil

Last week I released Part 1 of my special interview with 5 conducting students from Royal Conservatoire Conducting in Glasgow - today Part 2 is released and they all answered ten questions! Huge thanks to Jacobus de Jager, Oliver Cope, Peggy Wu, Kentaro Machida & Riley Court-Wood

I could have chatted with Ryan McAdams for many hours - such an open & honest discussion sprinkled with humour. He told me a quote that sums up how conductors should view their lives, & I discovered which famous conductor he thought had a "Hannibal Lecter quality"! KeynoteArtist

amiconthepodium KeynoteArtist What a joy to speak with you! (and I think that picture is...19 years old?! Thank god I'm not a 23 year old conductor anymore.)

What a joy to chat about all things conducting with amiconthepodium! Wide-ranging chat about teachers, technique, responsibility, community, CRASH ENSEMBLE, etc. Couldn’t have had a better time. Many thanks for the soapbox! KeynoteArtist

I fondly remember the first time I met Neil Thomson & knew this would be a good interview. We discussed the role of conductor at a conservatoire and being an orchestra trainer & I heard about his experiences with a legendary conductor who was once described as "a benign despot"!

If you are a conductor who needs to know a little more about string playing, then I have written the first two instalments of a guide to string playing on my Patreon page. I start with the basics, then pizzicato and on to making a full sound! patreon.com/amiconthepodium

. Karen Ní Bhroin and I have one thing in common - our own podcast about conducting! I heard that the COVID pandemic increased her workload in the US, we had a v.geeky chat about metronome marks, and if we were to dine out together it might cost a small fortune?! @JB_Management

I've known Andrew Constantine for over 30 years & catching up with him was brilliant We talked frankly about the differences between the US & UK & he used a wonderful metaphor to describe the difference between Valery Gergiev & Yuri Temirkanov! Reading Symphony Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra