Explore every episode of the podcast Remain Composed

Hello! This trailer features some of our first guests, with episodes coming your way weekly from Sunday 18th January 2026.

Anna Appleby is a composer and professor of composition at the Royal Northern College of Music. Explaining her creative process, Anna says music often starts in either her body or voice, or it comes from the environment around her. She explains how the music she hears contributes to her creative output, and the role synesthesia plays in her relationship with sound.

Anna’s performer alter-ego is Norrisette. We find out how she found this voice during the Covid-19 pandemic whilst working on an opera for the BBC Philharmonic set on a fictional farm.

Anna also describes how important she finds restrictions, and the role of collaboration with performers, when commissioned to write new works. And she discusses the differences between writing for professional and leisure-time musicians.

Jacob Fitzgerald is a composer of contemporary music. A piece Jacob wrote whilst studying music at school has been on the Trinity College London grade 8 piano syllabus. He explains how that came about, where the idea started and the response it’s had online.

Jacob discusses the programming of living composers’ music in concerts. Whilst he’s appreciative of opportunities, Jacob says sometimes it can be frustrating to be a token piece of new music.

Jacob says he tries to start writing music by hand, before inputting it into a computer. He says he composes quickly and doesn’t make many revisions of each piece.

Frankie Archer is an electrofolk artist who blends traditional music with synths and electronics to create a truly distinctive sound. She says she didn’t set out to necessarily create electrofolk music at first, but to bring together her interests.

Frankie explains how she comes across tunes and stories to work with and the process she goes through to make them her own, often starting by plucking melodies on her fiddle.

Frankie suggests the reason folk music contains lots of sad stories may be a reflection of people’s obsession with drama and gossip.

Frankie describes how she involves audiences in her live gigs, using special MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) controllers, and explains where the idea for that began.

David Lancaster is a composer and associate professor of composition at York St John University. He says while he writes a wide range of music, all of his work is related and each piece is a chip off a bigger block.

David constantly has a list of musical ideas queuing up, waiting to be written. He lives in York and he discusses how some of his ideas come from the city’s architecture, not least York Minster, and the stories of people who have lived in the city through history.

David describes the process he goes through when writing a new piece: often starting with the structure, then collecting material and developing ideas in a sketchbook before stitching them together. And David explains the joy he gets out of working together with performers.

Sharneisha Joyner is a composer based in North Carolina. She explains how she first got into composing for video games, and the difference between writing for games and film. She says starting with a blank sheet of paper can be frightening, but she draws inspiration from listening to a wide range of music as well as day to day life.

Sharneisha’s music has also been inspired by political events. She tells us how Donald Trump’s first presidential victory inspired her to write a requiem for America, and apply to transfer to the UK.

One of Sharneisha’s most formative musical experiences was playing in her school’s marching band. She gives us an education in American marching bands, and describes the practical requirements when writing music for them.

Paul Mealor is one of the world’s most performed living composers. He’s written music for many national occasions, including King Charles’ coronation. Paul explains how ‘Coronation Kyrie’ came into being, and how he marks the anniversary of the coronation each year.

Much of Paul’s output is choral music, and he talks about the challenges of setting text. Paul says some poets speak to him musically, and others don’t, even if he enjoys reading their work. He also describes the emphasis he places on craft, ensuring lines are practical.

He also describes the influence of growing up singing in St Asaph Cathedral in Denbighshire, his composition lessons with William Mathias and his time studying at the University of York.

Melanie Spanswick is a pianist, author, teacher and composer. She’s a piano faculty member at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Eton College, and she’s a regular contributor to Pianist Magazine. She tells Remain Composed that composition is an activity she’s come to relatively recently.

Melanie explains the process that goes into compiling anthologies, such as her ‘Play it again’ series designed for people returning to the piano after a break. Melanie discusses the challenges of making music for beginners which is both playable and not boring.

Working as an adjudicator of music festivals, Melanie says she’s seen numbers of performers falling. She says it’s a real shame, and everybody should learn a musical instrument.

Melanie describes what goes into writing her piece and column for each edition of Pianist Magazine - and how she manages to come up with names for so many individual works. She also has words of advice for anyone entering the magazine’s composing competition.

Thomas James Owen is in the early days of his compositional career. Thomas has always been curious about how and why music can evoke emotions. Thomas says he’s learnt to not imitate other composers, but he does sometimes aim to generate the feelings he’s felt when listening to certain works.

Thomas writes music most days. Normally, while sitting at his keyboard, his fingers come up with the ideas before his head does. He describes how he uses different processes to develop those ideas.

While discussing creative stimuli, Thomas discusses experimenting with his daughters to see whether they can associate ‘positive’ thoughts with major chords.

Thomas says AI-created music is only rehashing stuff it’s heard before. He says the only way to get a quality product is to use human creatives, though he does concede that times seem to be changing rather quickly.

Dawn Walters has written vocal settings of all of Shakespeare’s songs, and many of his sonnets. She explains how she discovered her love of Shakespeare - and tells us how that project started and grew.

Dawn says her ideas often stem from mental pictures, which she develops by thinking about the text she’s setting. She says the final versions of her pieces are often very different to the initial drafts. Dawn says she tries to reflect her own emotions in each piece.

Dawn explains how competitions can be great experiences for composers - but some come with hefty entry fees. She also discusses the benefits of going to university as a mature student.

David Lowe has composed many of British television's most iconic theme tunes including BBC News, The One Show and Grand Designs.

David tells Remain Composed about his beginnings in local radio, and how buying a polyphonic synthesizer would set him up for a career of writing music.

David explains the types of conversations he has with TV directors and producers when asked to create music for them. David shares his thoughts on the way TV is changing, and says the introduction of the 'skip intro' button on streaming services has created a unique challenge for composers.

David also discusses his upcoming album with his long-time friend Donna Lewis.

Crystalla Serghiou composes music in both pop and classical styles, and she also works hard to fuse the genres. She explains how genre-blending is a reflection of her wide interests, all of which stimulate her.

When writing pieces for the National Youth Choir, Crystalla has taken inspiration from both her Cypriot upbringing, and her fascination with yodelling. She discusses writing music to suit different groups within the NYC and balancing fun with challenge.

Crystalla collects ideas in voice notes on her phone. She says she’s a perfectionist at heart, and has had to learn to accept more imperfections as she’s developed as a composer. She says it’s sometimes alright to start by writing, and come up with the meaning of the work later.

Zygmund de Somogyi is a composer and music journalist. Zygmund describes their music as irreverent and eclectic. They’ve written for chamber ensembles, orchestra, stage, film and much more.

Much of Zygmund’s work is composed through collaboration, and is often derived from conversations with performers and others. Zygmund says they tend to focus on writing music for people, rather than just for instruments.

Asked whether there’s a common theme of frustration across several works, Zygmund describes trying to express feelings of liminality, the concept of being "betwixt and between" different life stages or states of being.

Zygmund’s music is performed around the world. They explain how audiences in various countries have given different responses to their work.

There's no new episode of Remain Composed today. We'll be back next week. Happy Easter!

Sophie Daniels is a songwriter and an associate professor of songwriting at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, where she founded the UK’s first higher education programmes in songwriting.

Sophie explains what makes an “almost perfect song”, including the importance of craft and reflecting human experience. She also says everyone can write songs, and the process is often thought of as being more complicated than it needs to be.

Sophie tells Remain Composed about the two EPs she's released under her artist name Liberty’s Mother. They're about baby loss and misogyny in the music industry.

Sophie says songs are vital to our shared sense of humanity, and AI-written music threatens that.

Vivek Haria is, broadly speaking, a chartered accountant by day and a composer by night. He tells Remain Composed about what overlap there is between his two fields.

Vivek tells us about the new song cycle about rivers he's written for the Swaledale Festival which was premiered there recently. He tells us how he immersed himself in the landscape and literature about rivers as part of preparing the piece.

Vivek tells us he loves collaborating with performers. He says a piece only really begins when he reaches the final double barline.

We also learn about the influence of his Jain roots on his own philosophy and music.

Anna Clyne is a GRAMMY-nominated and Ivor Novello Award-winning composer. She is one of the world's most in-demand living composers.

Anna tells Remain Composed about the relationship between music and visual arts. She often paints works to alongside her pieces of music, which she says gives her space to reflect.

Anna tells us about the 'augmented orchestra' she's been developing with her husband and sound engineer Jody Elff. It's a technological development, designed to give more creative options to Anna as a composer.

Frederick Viner is a composer, pianist and Youtuber based in York. He tells Remain Composed that parameters are his friends when composing, and if a commissioner hasn’t provided any, he quickly works some out for himself. Frederick describes his music as abstract, saying it’s not normally about anything in particular.

Frederick says watching videos on YouTube while growing up helped him discover a range of music. Now, he makes videos and has more than 28,000 subscribers. He says he tries to steer viewers towards lesser-known composers.

Frederick says music is at an interesting juncture, and asks how we can reconcile a traditional 'museum culture' with a culture of championing the new.

Frederick discusses the influence of 20th Century composer György Ligeti, and explains the complicated challenge he set himself of writing a Ligeti-style ‘tempo fugue’. (Here’s Frederick’s video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22N7ykqgceQ)

Frederick also tells Remain Composed he’s been helping the ABRSM put together new creative musicianship qualifications.

Sally Beamish has written nearly 300 works including concertos, ballets, vocal and chamber music. She says music is how she expresses her emotions. Much of her output focuses on the environment, the sea and other elements. She says that after having a miscarriage in 1994, writing a cello solo contributed to her overcoming her grief.

Sally studied the viola, but tells Remain Composed that she's never played a single note of any of her three concertos for the instrument. However, after studying with a violin-maker, Sally's daughter came back with a viola for her. She now plays her own music and other people's.

Sally says she suffers from imposter syndrome all the time, hearing voices questioning her ideas and originality. Sally says she overcame a particularly difficult period of creative block by taking up writing (words) and attending group classes.

Sally also gives Remain Composed a glimpse into her compositional process, including how she writes everything using notation software, and she describes how the Pomodoro Technique helps her maintain focus.

Gavin Higgins is a composer working with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Three Choirs Festival and many other ensembles and projects.

Wind, brass and percussion are central to Gavin’s orchestral music. He says he loves the mix of colours available in orchestras now, and that some composers can be over-timid when orchestrating music for brass. Gavin describes being influenced by his own time playing in a brass band, and the music of Stravinsky.

Gavin wrote a concerto grosso for brass band and orchestra for the BBC Proms in 2022. He talks us through the background of the piece. Gavin says it’s been performed lots since, more than much of his chamber music.

Gavin takes us through the process of collaborating with librettist (and Horrid Henry author) Francesca Simon when writing operas. He says he finds setting poetry much more difficult than a bespoke libretto. Gavin also discusses working alongside choreographers when writing for ballet.

Cameron Biles-Lidell is a composer based in North Wales. He tells Remain Composed he enjoys writing programme music, often based on landscapes or landmarks, and he also writes absolute music. He says he’s always thinking about evoking mood, image or feelings in his music.

Discussing how he gets his ideas flowing, Cameron says he always starts by going for a walk or at least getting out of his house.

Cameron says he often relies on tropes to communicate the story behind a piece to the audience quickly, and he likes it when his music is described as filmic. He says he fell in love with orchestral music by listening to great film music. And he says the comparison shows that his music connects with a wide audience.

Cameron has written several places inspired by the area where he lives. He says music based on places can create a cultural resonance with locals, and transport listeners from other places.

Chloe Knibbs is a composer currently studying for a PhD at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. In her work, she explores ways of being inspired by historical women composers.

Chloe tells Remain Composed about writing her 40 minute work Prism for piano and electronics, using material by and telling the story of the French composer Marie Jaëll (1846-1925). Chloe tells us she enjoyed combining humour with a serious message.

Chloe also discusses her fascination with the English composer Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), about whom she’s written two opera scenes.

Chloe says she enjoys projects most which have a lengthy ideas phase, and a piece is not finished when the score is complete - as she feels the performance is a crucial part of the creative process.

This episode focuses on AI, with Tom Collins, who is an associate professor of music engineering technology at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

We discuss how AI tools make music, whether they're a threat to human creatives' jobs, the ways Tom has used AI creatively in his music and the challenges facing copyright.

Tom also tells us about the Music and AI course he teaches, and how he makes sure the assignments are AI proof.

Tom encourages everyone to have a go at using an AI music generator like Suno or Udio, to get first-hand experience of how it works - rather than just listening to hype in the media.

Sarah Henderson is a composer, soprano and cellist preparing to study an MA in composition at the Royal Academy of Music.

Sarah tells Remain Composed about the places she takes inspiration from - ranging from the Bible to a Japanese shopping centre.

Discussing process, Sarah says she enjoys the planning stage and playing around with ideas. She says actually committing notes to the page can feel scary unless she feels her ideas are already well formed.

Sarah recently won Tenebrae's 'Undiscovered Voices' composition competition, which was held to mark their 25th anniversary. Her winning piece, 'Wanderers' was performed by the choir at Wigmore Hall, and will be included on their upcoming album. Sarah tells Remain Composed about the relationship she's been building with the choir.

Philip Stopford is a composer and choral trainer based in Leighton Buzzard. His music has taken him from Truro to New York via Oxford, Canterbury, Belfast and Chester. He gives Remain Composed his thoughts for others looking to build a career in composition.

Philip says 99% of his pieces are settings of sacred texts - and with each work he tries to think about what he wants it to achieve or say. He says that as a composer of church music, he likes to write music which people will actually use in their worship. He says he loves being part of people’s repertoire.

Discussing the limitations on composers, Philip says there are fewer notes than there are balls on a snooker table. But every game of snooker is different, and we haven’t run out of melodies just yet.

Philip tells us the stories behind some of his most well known works like Do Not Be Afraid, which was commissioned for a baptism, and Lully, Lulla, Lullay which was written as a last minute addition to an album.

Debbie Wiseman has more than 200 film and TV credits. She’s Classic FM’s composer in residence, and last year she won the Ivor Novello Award for outstanding contribution to screen composition.

Debbie tells Remain Composed about how the process for writing scores varies between projects such as the BBC series Wolf Hall and Father Brown. She explains how important the relationship is between director and composer.

Asked about the threat of AI on creative work, Debbie says her composition often stems from subtext - not just the literal images on screen.

Debbie explains how studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama helped her find her love for screen-composition. And she describes how she sent out showreels when trying to land her first job, as nobody ever advertises for a composer.

Debbie wrote two Alleluias performed at the coronation in 2023. She tells Remain Composed how one which had originally been written for the choir of Westminster Abbey was reworked for the Ascension Gospel Choir.

Matthew Warren is a composer and researcher. He's currently preparing for the premiere of an opera he's written in Manx Gaelic. He tells Remain Composed it's the first opera that's been written in the language. Matthew says it's been written for a string quartet, singer and dancer, to maximise the opportunities for taking it on tour.

Matthew says his favourite part of the compositional process is the ideas stage, before putting pen to paper.

Matthew also discusses the research he did for his PhD, into the relationship between universitiy bureaucracy and composers' creativity. He says while some composers accept the demands of the institutions, but others are on the verge of leaving the sector.

Precious Akindele is a composer, pianist and organist. She’s been studying at the BRIT School, whose alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse and Jessie J, and will begin studying composition at Trinity Laban in September. She was featured playing her own composition on Channel 4’s The Piano.

As a classical composer, Precious tells Remain Composed she’s enjoyed learning from her pop peers at the BRIT School, who often put their own emotions, vulnerabilities into their music.

Precious sometimes writes music sitting at her piano, and sometimes on the sofa. She says it can be a full body experience, which has occasionally involved dancing to music in her head.

Precious says she uses graphical notation when writing scores, which give performers freedom. This has included depicting dynamics with the thickness of lines or sound quality with colour gradients. Precious is visually impaired, which she says makes her think about things differently.