Sir Karl Jenkins, one of the world’s most performed living composers, has just celebrated his 80th birthday. Alternative Classical Founder Hannah Fiddy chats to Karl about the role of music criticism, his tips for emerging composers, ego, and what peace means to him.

Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre is among today’s most popular musicians. He goes deep with Hannah Fiddy on life lessons learned from composing, people pleasing, and the weight of composing within the classical tradition.

Trailblazing composer Max Richter stands as one of the most prodigious figures on the contemporary music scene. He chats with Hannah Fiddy about classical music gatekeeping, coping with the distraction of the online world, and his favourite weekend breakfast.

Sir James MacMillan CBE is one of today’s most successful living composers. He had a Zoom conversation with Hannah Fiddy about the pressure of creating new works, elitism and the class divide in classical music, and the TV he’s been watching during lockdown.

Joep Beving is a Dutch composer/pianist who has been described as a ‘one-man recording phenomenon’, going from ‘kitchen composer to Spotify star’ . He shares with Hannah Fiddy his incredible journey to fame, and where how he fits within the classical canon.

Ahead of his performance at the Southbank Centre, Icelandic musician and producer Ólafur Arnalds talks to Hannah Fiddy about being force fed Chopin, using social media to communicate with your audience, and the alternative classical scene in Iceland.