It’s fun to find out what an artist listens to themselves. So occasionally we ask them…
Have a look below at our fast expanding series of artist-made playlists.
A Modern Lens
Janne Valkeajoki curates a collection of Early Music, revitalised by a modern lens, following his new release featuring accordion arrangements of the works of Rameau.
Rhapsody 100
A playlist to accompany the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Stewart Goodyear curates a short selection of tracks which celebrate the great composer.
Listen to Goodyear with Chineke! and Wayne Marshall in his 2019 recording of the work.
Our Music
Pianists Charles Owen & Katya Apekisheva select some of the music most important to them, much of which formed the inspiration for their own new album for two pianos.
#LoveCello - exclusive to Apple Music
To celebrate the release of her new album, Estrellita, Hee-Young Lim has created a playlist for anyone who loves to listen to the sound of the cello.
Spanish Light
For his latest album, Spanish violinist Francisco Fullana returns to his roots with an album of wonderful music by Spanish composers. Here are some of Francisco’s childhood favourites, in a playlist he has created exclusively for Apple Music.
Opera Suites
Conductor Andrew Gourlay curates a playlist of his favourite opera suites, having recently released his own, highly praised arrangement of Parsifal.
Rach150
Ahead of his own album of Rachmaninoff, John-Henry Crawford celebrates the great composer with a playlist of his favourite recordings.
My Music - Kirill Troussov
To celebrate the launch of his major new series of live recordings, the violinist and pedagogue Kirill Troussov has made us a playlist bringing together some of history’s greatest artists in recordings that continue to inspire him.
Huw Wiggin's Christmas playlist
Each year we ask one of our artists to make a playlist of their favourite festive listening, so we can have a peek down their chimney. This year is the turn of saxophonist Huw Wiggin, who has curated a veritable stuffed stocking of a playlist for us. Enjoy.
My Music - Coco Tomita
“My debut album ‘ORIGINS’ traces back my roots as an artist. Each piece in the album has a special place in my heart, and as a whole the programme ties together many links; some historical and others personal.”
For this playlist Coco has expanded her theme, bringing us some of the music that has inspired her journey to this important point in the young artist’s career.
A box of many colours
Composer Julian Marshall curates a playlist for us, celebrating the many colours of music. Drawing together some of his desert island favourites from across the years, Julian explains the stylistic variety “simply reminds me that there are so many ways to spell the word ‘soul’.”
My Music - Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider
On the eve of the 2022 Carl Nielsen International Competition, we asked President of the jury and one of the world’s foremost musicians Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider to curate a playlist for us, bringing together some of the music which has kept him inspired throughout his own extraordinary career.
Summer Love Mixtape
It’s officially summer, and it’s a hot one ☀️ Thanks to our friend JIJI for making us a mixtape to help with the heat… Stream the new album featuring a guest appearance from JIJI right here
The Sounds of Latin America
John-Henry Crawford curates a playlist featuring his own picks of the best sounds from Latin America
Fedor Rudin's French & Russian Gems
As Fedor Rudin’s new album focuses on his own French-Russian Heritage, he has created a playlist for us exploring other hidden gems of these musical traditions, and including some further works by his grandfather, Edison Denisov.
Chelsea Guo - My Music
Pianist and soprano Chelsea Guo’s debut album hit no.7 on the US Billboard Charts, and received a 5 star review in BBC Music Magazine. Here, Chelsea curates a playlist of the music that has kept her inspired on the journey to her first major recording.
Baroque masterpieces
To mark the release of her new recording of Telemann’s extraordinary Fantasias for solo violin, Iryna Gintova has curated a playlist for us exploring some other Baroque masterpieces.
The music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
For her debut album, soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn chose to shine a light on the songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. For this playlist Elizabeth introduces us to the composer, through a selection of recordings she feels worth exploring.
Crossing Genres
This month, Ian Anderson (one half of Duo van Vliet) released an acoustic re-imagining of Radiohead’s Kid A with another of his ensembles, Wooden Elephant. The album is incredibly inventive, and we love it. Combining genres is no easy task though, so we asked Ian to make us a playlist exploring some of the music that has inspired his own work with Wooden Elephant.
The Sounds of Our House
Elena Urioste & Tom Poster (BBC Music Magazine cover stars, January 2021) have just won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s ‘Inspiration’ Award for their tireless efforts to keep spirits up over the lockdown. But we wondered what the married musicians listen to when no-one is looking.
GAIA Music Festival - the first decade
GAIA Music Festival founder Gwendolyn Masin picks her favourite moments from the festival’s first decade.
Check out the whole catalogue HERE
The Music I Love - Dmytro Popov
This highly eclectic playlist from Dmytro Popov contains choices which he explains will often give him strength and motivation before a performance, or sometimes simply help him to think more deeply during difficult times. It certainly shows Dmytro as an artist with wide-ranging musical tastes.
Elevation - a playlist from Lil Lacy
‘To elevate, to lift one’s mind, thoughts, perspective and awareness, or even one’s complete body upwards. Within the theme of elevation and air this playlist has been created.’
– Lil Lacy
Richard Pantcheff's Choral Greats
This playlist, made for us by composer Richard Pantcheff, contains examples of the great choral music across the ages, all of which has inspired him as performer, conductor, and composer.
Listen to the new London Choral Sinfonia album of Pantcheff’s own choral music HERE.
#myalbumescape
We’re celebrating National Album Day with a splendid playlist of the albums our artists have been escaping to.
You’ll find everything from Bach to Radiohead, via Nina Simone…..
Vulnerable, raw & honest - a video playlist by Paula Murrihy
“What do these performances all have in common…?
For me there is an immediacy, a rawness to each performance that’s so honest, and that goes straight to the soul.
They are performances that inspire.”
Michael Poll takes us on a journey through Bach
Michael Poll’s own Bach album has been streamed over a million times, so we asked him which recordings of the great master he listens to himself…
Love & Death by the Navarra String Quartet
The Navarra String Quartet’s new album explores the classic theme of Love & Death. We asked them to compile a playlist for us, taking the idea a little further…..
Stuart Jackson's playlist for sunset-gazing
We asked Stuart Jackson to create a summer playlist for us, of music he actually listens to himself. Here he selects his favourite tracks for simply ‘gazing into a sunset’. Fill up the paddling pool and enjoy.
Jonathan Biss on the music of Beethoven
To celebrate the recent release of Jonathan’s own Complete Beethoven Sonatas boxset, we asked him to compile a list of some recordings he finds particularly inspiring.
Natalya Romaniw makes everyone very sad
We asked Natalya Romaniw to curate a list of the song recordings she holds dearest. The resulting playlist is absolutely gorgeous, but will reduce even the cheeriest of song lovers to snivelling wrecks. Guaranteed.
Jack Liebeck's Violin Gods
The history of violin recording certainly does contain some gigantic names. We asked Jack Liebeck to send us his picks of the best, along with the recordings he has found most inspiring.
Shuffle Music, a playlist by George Lepauw
“In my listening, I try to cover lots of ground. Classical music itself is endless, and I am constantly discovering, and sometimes rediscovering its great output, a solid thousand years of extraordinary, recorded creativity. And then there is the music of so many other cultures, which I love to explore, remembering the wide breadth of human experience and expression across countries and continents.”
Bernard Hughes - Music for your inner child
To celebrate the release of Not Now, Bernard and other stories, composer Bernard Hughes has curated a lovely playlist for us, of music that is inspired by memories of childhood or perhaps that has a child-like way of looking at the world. To be enjoyed with or without children…
Michael Waldron's Christmas Playlist
We asked Michael to curate the Orchid Christmas playlist this year – and we got exactly what we were hoping for: a mixture of traditional carols, Mariah Carey, Bach and Beyoncé. (Click HERE for the new London Choral Sinfonia album.)
Stunning Soundtracks & Magnificent Masterpieces
A collection of fabulous tracks from the world of film and beyond, compiled for us by Stuart Hancock – whose new album you can see HERE
Joy, inspiration & Desolation
To celebrate their new release we asked Tesla Quartet to put together a playlist for us, of music by the composers on the disc and also some other tracks that highlight the mood and characters of the album. Check out Joy & Desolation, from Tesla Quartet with clarinettist Alexander Fiterstein HERE
My Instrument: Bjarke Mogensen
We asked Bjarke a few questions about his love of the accordion, and he offered a playlist to illustrate his answers.
Have a listen, and then you can read the blog post HERE
#nowplaying Brahms
Joseph Shiner has put together a lovely playlist for us, of tracks that inspired his lifelong love of Brahms, and led to the recording of his new album.
The Music of Jonathan Dove
Conductor Timothy Redmond suggests a playlist of works by the composer which made a particular impression on him.
Check out the new recording of Dove’s orchestral works with the BBC Philharmonic under Redmond, and with guest soloist Lawrence Zazzo, HERE
Paris
Paris….. an inspiration to generations of artists, composers, writers and all manner of creatives. Quatuor Capriccio have made us a playlist that reflects their city’s place at the heart of music.
Great Piano Concertos
To celebrate the release of her new album, Lilit Grigoryan has put together her own list of the greatest piano concertos in the performances she most admires. Check out Lilit’s album, Variations Sérieuses, here
Chris Jarvis - My Wonderland
One of our very favourite playlists of 2018 came from CBeebies legend Chris Jarvis.
It’s the most upbeat playlist you have ever listened to, and that’s a fact.
Check out the other playlists, by Jools Holland, Alan Titchmarsh, Robert Harris, Nico Muhly and Stephen Hough HERE
The Romantics
The Romantic period was a time of unbridled expression, passion, and the cross fertilisation of all art forms. Probably not by coincidence, some of the greatest music in history was created….. Here we celebrate some exceptional Romantic recordings in the Orchid catalogue.
Stewart Goodyear - a Ravel Odyssey
In 2017 Stewart Goodyear released the first album of his Ravel exploration, to great critical acclaim. (Click here for more info) Here he shares some recordings of Ravel which particularly influenced him, and the list includes some of history’s great recorded artists.
Huw Wiggin - My Music
Huw Wiggin’s album, Reflections, went to no. 2 in the UK album charts.
The album follows a very personal journey through the music Huw grew up playing, and alongside the release he curated a playlist of inspirations away from the saxophone.
Matilda Lloyd on the Art of the Album
“The concept of the album is so important. It creates a blank canvas for the creation of complete artistic design, and allows for themes and stories to be fully explored….” Here are 3 albums which Matilda likes to listen to in full. (Check out Matilda’s own debut album here) #NationalAlbumDay
