Author Archives: Andrew Mellor

Journalist and critic

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Interviews

First Times with Anna Clyne: Hearing Your Music for the First Time

What does it feel like for a composer to hear their music performed for the first time? Anna Clyne offers a refreshing perspective. She welcomes the unknown, seeing each performance…

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 11min read
Inside the score

Great Conductor–Orchestra Relationships: What Makes Them Work?

Behind every iconic orchestra sound lies a partnership that worked — or sometimes didn’t. Looking at landmark collaborations past and present reveals how leadership, identity and context combine to create…

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 11min read
Inside the score

China and the Classical Music Boom: From Growth Market to Global Powerhouse

Two decades after being seen as a future growth market, China has become a central player in classical music — reshaping education, orchestras and repertoire with unprecedented scale.

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 12min read
Inside the score

Playing With History: How Historically Informed Performance Rewrote the Sound of Classical Music

The Historically Informed Performance (HIP) movement didn’t just revive old instruments; it reimagined how music from every era should sound. In doing so, it reshaped orchestras, opera houses, and audiences’…

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 14min read
Inside the score

From Stadium to Stage: The Shared Language of Music and Sport

What links football clubs, opera houses, marathon runners and conductors? More than metaphor: music and sport have a shared pursuit of excellence, discipline and physical freedom.

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 12min read
Inside the score

Listening to the Seasons

From snow-muted streets to the promise of spring, the changing seasons shape how we hear and remember music. Andrew Mellor reflects on weather, memory and the composers who have translated…

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 12min read
Inside the score

Prima della Scala: Inside Italy’s Most Iconic Season Opening

From its 1778 inauguration to today, La Scala has defined Italian opera. This year’s Prima featured Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth, uniting music, politics, and Milanese pride in a single unforgettable night.

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 11min read
Inside the score

The Finnish School: Why Finland Produces the World’s Leading Conductors

Finland may be small in population, but it looms large on the global classical stage. From Helsinki to New York, Finnish conductors are shaping orchestras worldwide, thanks to a rich…

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 14min read
Inside the score

Can Architecture Shape a Performance?

Today’s concert halls alter more than acoustics: they influence musicians’ mindset, audiences’ connection, and the evolving identity of classical performance.

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 14min read
Interviews

First Times with Alisa Weilerstein: Her First Elgar and Beyond

A cardboard cello, a defining first Elgar, and a memorable Bach mishap — Alisa Weilerstein retraces the formative “first times” that forged her artistic identity.

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By Andrew Mellor

Reading time estimated : 11min read