In Week 6 of RyePod podcast from Rye Arts Festival, the guest is the hugely versatile conductor and lifelong musical educator Hilary Davan Wetton.
Hilary talks to Alison Moncrieff-Kelly about how, in the last few years, he has gained national prominence through his work with the chart-topping Military Wives Choir, of which he is the artistic director and conductor. But this is just one of his many irons in a consuming musical fire that includes being principal conductor of the City of London Choir, which he brought to Rye Arts Festival for a magical concert in St Mary’s a couple of years ago.
Having studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult, Hilary shares his views on what are the qualities that make great musical teachers, and he muses on how musical education has changed in the country in recent times.
We learn more about his work with amateur choirs and a hugely commendable outreach output that includes bringing music to prisons.
Episode 6 of RyePod goes live around 9am on Friday, June 12. The beauty of podcasts is you can listen to them when you like, so you can catch up on earlier RyePod episodes, including actress and director Selina Cadell, the Royal Opera House’s musical director Sir Antonio Pappano, and Alison’s chat with former Level 42 drummer Phil Gould, which mirrors Rye Art Festival’s mission to cover all the arts.
RyePod is on all the major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify. A comprehensive list is available at anchor.fm/ryepod
Image Credits: Filskifoto / Rye Arts Festival .